A second open-air vaccination center has opened in San Francisco, this one, in the Mission District, intended to increase vaccine distribution in one of the most affected communities in the pandemic.
Following the soft launch of the mass vaccination drive-through location at City College ten days ago, the City of San Francisco has opened a smaller, local vaccination spot in a parking lot just steps from the BART station on 24th and Mission streets that 400 people a day can vaccinate. For starters, as Mission Local reports, the site is aiming to give 120 shots per day as part of the soft launch, and that will be during limited hours: 9am to 2pm, Sunday through Wednesday.
Increasing to 400 vaccinations per day depends on the stock of the vaccine and possibly longer operating hours.
The outdoor facility is the result of a collaboration between UCSF, the Latino Task Force and the SF Department of Public Health, who have also teamed up over the past year to host pop-up testing sites in this neighborhood. The current test site on the 24th Street BART station square, run by Unidos and Salud, is also running four days a week, as the Chronicle notes.
“COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on our Latino community, which is why it is so important that we bring these vaccines directly to the neighborhoods that have been hit so hard,” said Mayor of London Breed in a statement announcing the site’s launch. was announced.
“We are ready to administer 10,000 doses per day [across the city]but to ensure equitable distribution, you have to meet people where they are, especially in the communities most affected, ” Breed said on Twitter, adding that more neighborhood vaccination sites like this will open in Visitacion Valley , the Bayview and elsewhere. .
We are out this morning on the first day of our neighborhood vaccination site in the mission!
We are opening these sites across SF, in addition to three major sites, to ensure that we are ready for widespread distribution when supply increases. @Snapphire @HillaryRonen pic.twitter.com/xWdJq8ANQw
– London Breed (@LondonBreed) February 1, 2021
“Today is an important milestone in our fight to combat COVID-19 and it is thanks to our collective partnership and mutual trust that we can bring vaccines directly to a population that has been painfully and disproportionately affected by this pandemic,” said Jon Jacobo, chair of the health committee of the Latino Task Force, in a statement.
The interest in vaccination is very high in the Mission neighborhood, as in much of San Francisco. Dr. Diane Havlir, a UCSF professor of medicine and co-founder of this partnership with the Latino Task Force, tells the Chronicle, “We asked more than 5,000 adults who came to test at 24th Street BART Square last month, and 86 percent said they were open to vaccination. “
Currently, as with other testing sites, vaccines are only given to health workers and residents over the age of 65, and health workers are only at this site on Mondays and Tuesdays. Things are handled by appointment only, and eligible people should contact their healthcare provider or local clinic about the schedule.
Earlier: Mass vaccination site opens softly at City College – no walk-ups allowed