San Francisco, its public health department, and several private health care providers launched the city’s first mass Covid-19 vaccination center at City College on Friday at 8 a.m. in an effort to get vaccinations among residents, regardless of health coverage .
At the time, the drive-through website was only open to those contacted by their healthcare provider. The present-day series of perhaps a few hundred people was a dry run for thousands a day, who must be innocent to achieve the city’s goal of vaccinating all its inhabitants by 30 June. Some of the respondents were invited to UCSF.
Those arriving there drove in via a back street and eventually ended up at a large open parking lot along the Friday Kahlo Way. They were then greeted by workers who approached them for intake and with a questionnaire before being sent to one of several vaccination lanes. In total, there are 23 lanes, but at most, Mission Local took seven lanes on Friday.
At 11:30 about four lanes were open and operation seemed slow. By 1:30 p.m., seven lanes were open and more than a dozen cars were queuing up. Because the vaccine can cause side effects, the recipients should be monitored for 15 minutes and delayed a bit.
Elizabeth Bartels and her husband arrived in their Norfolk Terrier, Mac. Bartels are more than 75 with underlying conditions and experienced Covid-like symptoms in March, she said.
She received an email about the vaccine from her UCSF MyChart system at 7pm on Thursday night and easily planned an appointment for Friday.
After Bartels was vaccinated safely, she said: “I will do my own shopping instead of ordering it online, just to get out. I might consider a little trip.” The couple plans to take a bus rent for a four day camping trip.
Another woman, Amy, also discovered that she qualified Thursday and hit a Friday lock. After both doses, she said, she would continue to mask and try a trip to Santa Fe. She is very excited to see her three children and eight grandchildren.
“I feel very privileged and grateful that the scientists got the vaccine for us and that I had to get it,” she said.
Most people vaccinated on the site will receive a notification from their healthcare providers such as Dignity Health and Kaiser Permanente. According to the Department of Public Health, private providers receive the most vaccines from the state.
The City College website has opened amid growing frustrations locally and nationwide over the introduction of vaccines. In particular for San Francisco, Mayor London Breed and Director of Public Health, dr. Grant Colfax, said that volatile vaccines make it difficult to navigate vaccination plans at the local level.
“Large vaccination sites like these are critical to getting people vaccinated quickly and safely,” Breed said in a statement.
The mass site will be open until 16:00 today and then resumes vaccinations at 08:00 on Saturday and Sunday 24 January, but it is unclear whether the schedule will resume at 08:00 to 16:00 on Monday. According to the Department of Public Health, it depends on how much supplies the city receives.
Just Thursday, the Department of Public Health carefully avoided canceling the scheduled vaccine appointments when an order to discontinue use of approximately 8,400 Modern vaccines was reversed a day earlier.
At present, only health workers or residents aged 65 or over can be vaccinated; in San Francisco, about 210,000 residents are eligible for the two categories. Since two injections are needed, it would require 420,000 doses just to innocent the city’s first level residents.
However, on January 20, the Department of Public Health and Private Providers received a quarter of it [420,000] doses, ”according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
The City College site is the first of three sites planned by city health officials, hoping to vaccinate up to 10,000 San Franciscans a day. The remaining two are planned for the Moscone Center and the San Francisco Market in Bayview if supply allows.
Stephen Clark, 76, said he is a member of the UCSF and has been reported by the Department of Health in Contra Costa County, but he has an appointment link for the City College website. Despite his happiness, he said others were embroiled in a difficult process.
“I was forever searching to find the right number to dial, it just wasn’t clear,” Clark said. “I’m sure there are a lot of people my age who are confused and have no idea what to do.”
Residents who want to know when it’s their turn to get a chance can sign up for a vaccination system launched Tuesday. The other two sites are expected to open in a few weeks, Breed and Colfax said earlier this week.
But “to fully deliver this plan,” Breed said, “we need more vaccination.”
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