Mass vaccination sites have become a pivotal form of reaching more members of the public for vaccination safely. More people are able to get vaccinated at the same time and place.
In a statement released Jan. 12 the Orange County Health Care Agency announced they have had the same issue at three different POD sites in their county .
“The county’s three existing POD sites were overwhelmed by individuals without appointments today, effectively shutting down the vaccination sites. It is critical for people to understand that appointment slots are available based on vaccine availability. Showing up without an appointment stresses the system and depletes scarce resources.”
Due to recent weather conditions in Orange county, CA the Disney Resort site has had some setbacks. The site was forced to remain closed on Jan. 19 and 20.
Those who had appointments on those days will still be able to get the vaccine and will be contacted to reschedule.
On Jan. 21 the Orange County Health care Agency announced “The county is opening its second regional COVID-19 vaccine supper POD site at Soka University in Aliso Viejo on Saturday, January 23, starting at 8:00 a.m.”
COVID-19 has impacted the county of Los Angeles county significantly as it is one of the most affected areas in the state of California.
On Jan. 15 the mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti accompanied by Governor Gavin Newsom as well as other local leaders held a news event at the L.A. Dodgers stadium. They announced the transition from a testing site to a vaccination site.
In news conference L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti said, “Today we are here to announce something big not just the biggest in Los Angeles but what next week will be the biggest in California and the biggest in this country and taking what here At Dodgers Stadium has been the largest testing site in the world and transforming it into the largest vaccine site in America. Once this site is up and running in the middle of next week at full capacity we’ll be taking in at least 12000 people a day here. at Dodger Stadium.”
“This mega-site will bring the city’s contribution to LA vaccinations to 20,000 people a day in our capacity between Dodger Stadium and four city operated sites and the fire stations that are vaccinating members of LAFD and soon other members of the city family.”
Governor Newsom explained future plans and what the ultimate goal is, “We are expanding capacity at eight sites, we are adding mobile teams and we are building a new site at Pearse college in Woodland Hills.”
“Dodgers stadium is joining many other mass vaccination sites all throughout the state of CA. I was up at CalExpo in Sacramento yesterday, a much smaller site but with the same and similar mindset of administering these vaccines and moving these vaccines out of the freezer and getting them into people’s arms. We seated down at petco park and the padres joining the same effort we are seated in the central valley, in fresno, at other fairground sites in the central part of our state.”
Gov. Newsom continued to explain that state officials are continuing to work in different counties and are continuing to work with sports teams across both major and minor league teams in an effort to establish mass vaccination sites.
Newsom also assured California residents, he wants to make access to the vaccine as easy as possible. He reassures not just to expect to see mass vaccination sites as the only source for the vaccine. “We continue to want to do more to provide more access at pharmacies, more access with your doctor, more access with your primary care physicians clinics all throughout the spectrum of our health care delivery system in the state.”
On Jan. 19 San Joaquin County health officials hosted a mass vaccination event in the city of Stockton at Robert J. Cabral Center. Event supervisors raised their concerns after the event as they feared some of the members of the public that were vaccinated may have been in their 40s and did not fulfill any of the other requirements to get vaccinated at the moment.
When speaking to Lodi News Sentinel the county’s director of Health Care Services Greg Diederich spoke on what they can do to improve future events and get the most at risk crowds vaccinated, those in phase 1.
“I think we need to move to a vetted registration system where we target (eligible) individuals, reach out to them, confirm their identities to give them an appointment and enforce it (so that) only people with appointments get vaccinated unless we have excess dose.”
Some mass vaccination sites have struggled with there set up and how they are bringing people in, but this has become a learning experience for future mass vaccination sites.