The roll-out of the vaccine has not happened exactly at warp speed. Almost so far 9 million Americans have received a first dose of the COVID injection. If we want to go faster, we may need super centers and 24-hour immunizations to house the hundreds of millions of Americans who are still waiting for vaccination.
I wonder where they can go? Where could you move thousands through a centralized, socially remote location? Where can hundreds of cars easily find parking places? What is always accessible by public transport? Sounds like your local stadium.
Like November (and the Runoffs from Georgia), state governments and professional teams should make every effort to provide vacant stadiums for the common good. After all, we are the ones paying for the publicly funded stadiums. Why shouldn’t we be able to use them?
Well, it looks like we can start too soon. Today NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio announced a new mass vaccination spot at Citi Field, an $ 830.6 million stadium paid for with the help of $ 614.3 million in public money. Mets’ baseball field will immunize thousands of New Yorkers a day. And it’s not just New York City. The city of Los Angeles announced this on Sunday evening Dodger Stadium was due to start vaccinations this week. And two hours to the south, Petco Park will inoculate thousands at Padres Ballpark.
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There are vaccination sites included State Farm Stadium (Arizona Cardinals) Hard Rock Stadium (Miami dolphins) Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) The big house (University of Michigan Football) and more. Plus, Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium are expected to be vaccination sites for emergency responders in Massachusetts this week.
But in a country with so many empty and government-funded stadiums, more sports grounds should start thinking about how they can help the community. The NFL has also already insisted teams to offer their home fields for vaccination sites and President-elect Joe Biden will do that Reportedly include sports stadiums in its vaccination plan, which will be formally announced Thursday. According to research from Global Sport Matters at Arizona State University, the majority of US sports arenas are using at least some public aid to pay for professional stadiums.
Wouldn’t it make sense if we, the public, actually used it?