San Francisco will stop vaccinations at Moscone Center, City College as supplies run out

Cities across California have recently opened up mass vaccination sites, only to find they can’t get enough vaccines to fully operate them. Cities and healthcare providers have also struggled with inconsistent and unpredictable vaccine deliveries from California, which is preparing to outsource its distribution network.

Starting on Monday, the city will pause to vaccinate residents at Moscone convention facilities for at least a week, as well as at City College in San Francisco, until the next refueling shipment arrives.

“I am frustrated because we have shown that SF can administer injections as soon as they arrive,” said Breed in a tweet. “CCSF has been working well for weeks. Moscone’s reports are extremely positive. The only thing that prevents us is the lack of supply. “

Officials say City College is likely to reopen on Friday for second doses. A third high-volume site in San Francisco will also open this week as planned, but with fewer commitments available. No existing appointments, which are made on the state’s MyTurn scheduling system, have been canceled.

When the Moscone Center opened earlier this month as a high-volume vaccination site, officials spoke with hope of vaccinating all residents of the city by the end of June – if enough stock arrived. But despite being able to deliver more than 10,000 vaccines a day, the supply remains inconsistent.

Cities across the state have faced similar struggles, as more vaccines are being administered than arriving. As of Friday, more than 5.5 million vaccines have been administered in California, Governor Gavin Newsom said after a visit to the Moscone Center.

“What this website proves is that the only limitation on our ability to do more is the supply,” said Newsom on Friday. “The offer is the constraint. Supply is the problem here in the state of California and across the country. “

Last month, Newsom said the state would sign a contract with California’s Blue Shield to operate its vaccine distribution network, which was criticized at the beginning of the vaccination program as one of the slowest in the country.

In Los Angeles, five vaccination sites – including Dodger Stadium – closed last week due to a shortage of supplies. Authorities said the vaccine delivery fell that week from 90,000 to 16,000 doses. In San Jose, the deputy director of health said that about 6,000 vaccines were administered daily. The site has a capacity of up to 15,000 per day, officials said.

The Oakland Coliseum was scheduled to open as a vaccination center on Tuesday with the capacity to administer 6,000 doses per day and administered by the federal government with California involvement.

As of February 13, San Francisco has received 262,000 doses and administered more than 190,000 – the remaining doses are currently reserved for the first and second scheduled appointments.

“There is no doubt about it, we need more doses of vaccine,” said San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney. “To do this, we need the doses. But we also need more transparency from the SF Department of Public Health. They are still not releasing the total number of doses we received, how many we expect and who has them. This is information that the public should have access to. “

In the last week, San Francisco administered an average of 7,400 doses. About half of residents over 65 were vaccinated. But that still leaves a big gap – the city must vaccinate all 760,000 residents over the age of 16, which means that a total of more than 1.5 million doses are needed.

At Moscone, frontline healthcare professionals and individuals aged 65 and over can receive vaccines. The City College website can provide up to 3,000 doses per day to individuals aged 65 and over, by invitation only.

Lizzie Johnson is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected], Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn