Mass vaccination site revealed in Santa Clara County
The road to increasing South Bay Covid-19 vaccinations was cut on Friday. That, while Santa Clara County unveiled a new mass vaccination site at Mountain View Community Center.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California – The road to increasing South Bay’s COVID-19 vaccinations was cut short on Friday. That, while Santa Clara County unveiled a new mass vaccination site at Mountain View Community Center.
“At the end of the day, everyone will have to get the vaccine to get their lives back to normal,” said Nicolas Chew, a health professional who was one of the first to get vaccinated at the new center.
The path to normality, however, is fraught with difficulties. Through a virtual press conference, Santa Clara County officials said they only expect the Mountain View website to vaccinate 1,000 people a day, five days a week.
“We are at a critical point in this pandemic across Santa Clara County,” said Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei.
The county health department reports more than 96,000 cumulative COVID cases. The seven-day moving average is more than 1,100 cases.
Time is essential. We don’t have a month to lose. We don’t have a week to lose. We don’t have a single day to lose. We can’t let time pass, “said Joe Samitian, a member of the county Board of Supervisors representing Dist. 5, which also houses the new center.
As county officials struggle to get more mass test sites approved and opened in the coming weeks, there’s a glaring problem: even with more places to administer the vaccine and people to work on the sites, there’s a shortage of vaccine coming in for the state.
“This vaccine is a critical tool and, hopefully, our way out of the pandemic. But we are still waiting for additional vaccine supplies,” said the County Association. Chief physician, Dr. Jennifer Tong.
She said officials ask for everything Sacramento can offer. During the week of January 25-30, this will total 20,000 doses in the first dose and 13,000 doses in the second dose. But it is still not enough to significantly improve the vaccination rate by 20%.
“It is crucial to have the supply. Therefore, we can have the location and the logistics, but if we do not have it, it will be a problem,” said associate Marcelle Dougan, associate. professor in the Department of Public Health and Recreation at San Jose State University.
As the battle to move beyond Coronavirus progresses, officials say the ultimate success – 70% vaccination rates – is far beyond centers like Mountain View.