San Francisco to temporarily suspend mass vaccination

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San Francisco’s public health department said it will shut down its two major COVID-19 vaccination sites in the coming days due to “limited, inconsistent, and unpredictable” supply.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – FEBRUARY 4: Irene Villa, 72, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Kaiser Permanente San Francisco assistant director of nurse Jamie Rant at a press conference announcing the opening of a mass vaccination hub at the Moscone Center, in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Anda Chu / Bay Area News Group)

In a statement Sunday, officials said the city’s locations at the Moscone Center and City College of San Francisco had ramped up vaccine supplies by the department, pharmacies and health care providers to an average of 7,400 doses in the past seven days.

Those numbers have contributed to the percentage of people over 65 in the city receiving a vaccine from 31 percent early last week to 47 percent.

But the dwindling supply is forcing tough choices, including closing the city’s Moscone Center for a week. That site, operated in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente, Adventist Health, the California Medical Association, Dignity Health, Futuro Health, and the California Primary Care Association, will reopen as soon as enough vaccines arrive to resume efforts.

The City College site will pause this week before reopening on Friday, but only to give second doses. A third major site in the SF market in the Bayview neighborhood of the city is expected to open later this week, handling scheduled appointments without cancellation, but limiting other available appointments and booking only with confirmed vaccine stockpile.

Martin Auzenne, 73, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from a health professional at a vaccination site in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. (AP Photo / Haven Daley) Haven Daley / Associated Press

“The supply of vaccines to health care providers in San Francisco and the Department of Public Health (DPH) is limited, inconsistent and unpredictable, making vaccine rollouts difficult and denying San Franciscans this potentially life-saving intervention,” officials said in part Sunday.

According to the city’s health authority, the city has administered more than 190,000 of the 262,000 doses to city and regional residents, and plans to use the remaining supply for first appointments and planned second doses.

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