California opens federal vaccination at Oakland Coliseum
KTVU’s James Torrez reports.
OAKLAND, California. – Mass vaccination sites at the Oakland Coliseum and the state of Cal in Los Angeles were opened for business on Tuesday because other sites in California were forced to close due to lack of supply.
The two most recent openings are part of President Biden’s promise to open 100 mass vaccination sites during his first hundred days in office, and they are federally funded, meaning they will have a federal vaccine supply. The goal is to vaccinate 6,000 people a day on these sites.
The Oakland website will be handing out vaccines to people in levels 1a and 1b, meaning health workers and 65+ groups, teachers and agricultural workers can make appointments there. Those who are eligible can make an appointment here.
“I’m very excited and a little nervous,” Linda Bowen said. She was in a long line of people who would be vaccinated in the Coliseum parking lot on Tuesday. ‘I have a few nieces in the medical field who have already received it, and a few elderly families who have received it, so I’m doing well. It is going well with me.’
The federal offer is in stark contrast to what is happening at the local and provincial levels, where vaccination sites at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles have to stop temporarily because the doses are up.
In San Francisco, mass vaccinations will be suspended for a week at the Moscone rally until supply skyrockets, officials announced Sunday. They also said vaccinations stop at City College in San Francisco and then start again Friday, but only for appointments in the second dose.
“I am frustrated because we have shown that SF can administer shots as soon as they come in,” Mayor London Breed said on social media. “We hope for more information in the next few days. We will maintain enough doses to ensure the second shots for people on schedule.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced on Tuesday that the federal government will increase the number of vaccines it sends to states. Governors were notified through a call with COVID Response Coordinator Jeff Zientz.
“We are increasing the supply of covine vaccines to 13.5 million doses per week that will go out to states,” Psaki said. “This is a 57% increase in the amount states have received since the president was inaugurated.”
The locations at Oakland Coliseum and Cal State LA have been selected for equity purposes, Govin Newsom said, and slots will be reserved for people in the surrounding areas. Residents can use ‘My Turn’, a new tool across the country, to register and make appointments.
Each site will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., beginning with the administration of 4,000 doses on Tuesday before increasing to 6,000 a day, said Cal Fergus spokesman Brian Ferguson. Mobile clinics will also start operating.
The state also announced details of its $ 15 million contract with insurer Blue Shield, which has been selected to manage California’s new centralized vaccine delivery system. Blue Shield will be responsible for developing incentive criteria for suppliers and algorithms to award vaccines and prioritize appointments.
The task is to manage the supplier network so that it meets certain criteria, such as making sure vaccines are available to 95% of people within a half-hour drive in urban areas and an hour’s drive in rural areas.
It will also be charged with having to hit a monthly vaccination rate – determined by the state – for people in populations who do not have enough resources. The contract requires four million doses to be administered nationwide by the end of April, although this includes federal vaccinations and is subject to supply.
Blue Shield will not be reimbursed for staff time, but the $ 15 million is expected for the costs the insurer may incur, such as consultants, equipment and lawyers. The complete list of reimbursable costs is still being developed according to the contract.
California continues to see lower rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, though deaths are slowing. The state reported another 200 deaths on Monday, bringing the total to more than 47,000 since the outbreak – the highest in the country. The state also reported nearly 6,500 new cases, bringing the total number of recorded coronavirus infections to 3.4 million.
Many cities and counties in California are crying out for more vaccination and say they have the ability to deliver it to residents. They struggle to maintain doses for large-scale sites and to get vaccines in neighborhoods that are hit hard, which are mainly working class and very black and Latino.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city expects to receive 58,000 doses this week and will give priority to people in need of second shots. About 4,600 first doses will be set aside for people in vulnerable communities, he said.
San Francisco plans to proceed with the opening of a third high-volume vaccination site in the hard-hit Bayview area, but this will be done with fewer appointments. Officials said they delivered at least one dose to nearly half of the city’s 65 and older residents.
The mass vaccination center in the Moscone Center was opened less than two weeks ago with high hopes of vaccinating as many as 10,000 people a day. The initial offer came from Kaiser Permanente, which was tasked by the governor to administer 85,000 doses to Moscone and Cal Poly Pomona from unused consignments that went to CVS Pharmacy, Kaiser said.
More than 6 million doses were administered throughout California, with at least 1 million people receiving both doses. The state receives about 1 million doses a week, with a significant portion reserved for second shots, Newsom said.
Associated Press reporter Janie Har contributed to this report.