After more than 200,000 coronavirus vaccine shots were placed in the arms of San Diegans, the mass vaccination site near Petco Park will close permanently by the end of Saturday.
A spokesman for UC San Diego Health, which manages the site, notified The San Diego Union-Tribune Monday of the closure. She added that UCSD hopes someone can still wait for a second dose of vaccination by the end of the week.
There are probably thousands of people who are in that position. The superstation provides the Moderna vaccine, which requires two shots to maximize immunity to the coronavirus. More than 120,000 people received a first dose of vaccine on the spot, but only about 85,000 received a second dose.
These figures do not include people who received their first dose at the Petco Park site and went elsewhere for their second shot, or those who will be vaccinated within the next few days.
Anyone who has another vaccination appointment in place will receive a message through MyChart, UCSD’s electronic notification system. The health care system appeals to those who do not yet have a second dose appointment to schedule one by calling 800-926-8273 or 211 – but only if you are also going downtown for the first time.
The superstation, located on Petco Park’s rear parking lot, was the first mass vaccination site in the country and served as a model for other such sites across the state and the country. The province, UC San Diego, the city of San Diego and the Padres, assembled the superstation on January 11th. But with Padres’ baseball season set to begin in April, the site’s closure was inevitable.
The superstation was opened, closed and reopened in line with the shaky vaccine supply in the region. This sometimes caused confusion and frustration at San Diegans who were suddenly informed that their appointment had been canceled. And that has made UCSD wary of helping set up another mass vaccination site, though dr. David Brenner, vice chancellor for health sciences, says the health system is open to doing so – with the San Diego Convention Center as a possible future venue.
“We are delighted to help the country with this, just as with Petco,” Brenner said. ‘But we really need to have a healthier vaccine distribution system. Because otherwise it just leaves everyone terribly vulnerable to all these cancellations. ”
The deployment of vaccines in the region has changed significantly since the downtown super station opened for the first time. More than 715,000 San Diegans have been vaccinated against coronavirus, and the province now has five other superstations in La Jolla, Chula Vista, La Mesa, San Marcos and Del Mar.
Vaccines that were once directed from the province to the Petco Park site will now flow to these sites, as well as other sites spread across the region – including a new site that opens in Oceanside on Tuesday.
Provincial officials said the North Coastal Health and Human Services Facility in Mission Avenue, a block east of Interstate 5, could fire up to 700 shots a day. It will replace a clinic that opened Jan. 24 at the North Coastal Live Well Center on Ocean Ranch Boulevard and completed 300 vaccinations a day.
A crew of 13 medics and administrators from the National Guard will run the clinic with help from the country. The new Oceanside location has a total of 50 first-dose appointments and several second-dose appointments scheduled for Tuesday. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are offered on the website.
Jennifer Bransford-Koons, director of the province’s vaccine operations, can also administer the new single and vaccine vaccine Johnson & Johnson when available.
The site is located at zip code 92058, which was excessively affected by the pandemic. There were approximately 9619 coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the area, compared to approximately 7,926 per 100,000 inhabitants for the entire province.
“It’s in the middle of the Latino community that can walk here,” said Esther Sanchez, mayor of Oceanside.
The site is also within walking distance of the Eastside and Crown Heights neighborhoods and a short drive from the San Luis Rey Valley. And it’s along one of the city’s main roads for public transportation.
Residents in the zip code prefer appointments, but people from across the region will be accepted, officials said.
“This is a great day for Oceanside and a great day for the country,” said provincial supervisor Jim Desmond, who was with Sanchez, San Marcos councilor María Nuñez and others at a news conference in the United States. facility participated to announce the opening.
From Tuesday, the site is open from 09:30 to 15:30 Sundays to Thursdays. Appointments can be made via MyTurn, the state’s online vaccination system (myturn.ca.gov), or by calling 211 for older San Diegans who do not own a computer.
Whether the new site in Oceanside yields 700 shots a day will depend on supply, which is still unpredictable. Example: The Del Mar Fairgrounds superstructure, run by Scripps Health, will close on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday due to a low Pfizer vaccine. A spokesman for Scripps said that anyone whose appointment is canceled will be notified by MyTurn and automatically scheduled for a later date.
On Monday, the province reported 178 new coronavirus infections, one new hospitalization and no additional deaths from COVID-19.