New COVID Mass Vaccination Site To Open At Cal State LA
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A new COVID-19 vaccination super site that will be co-managed by federal authorities will open at Cal State University Los Angeles later this month.
The East L.A. site, slated to open Feb. 16, is one of two in California that are part of a White House program to establish 100 vaccination sites nationwide in the first 100 days of President Joe Biden's administration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced Wednesday.
The second site will open at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland.
In a news conference Wednesday morning from Oakland, Newsom said the goal is to have the two sites each administer about 6,000 vaccinations per day.
"The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities that are often left behind are not left behind, they're prioritized in terms of the administration of these vaccines," Newsom said.
The sites will be co-managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). The site will receive federal staffing and federal operational support.
"The two locations chosen for these efforts are in some of the most diverse and socioeconomically challenged communities in the country," the governor's office said in a press release. "They are also communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are home to essential workers who have borne the brunt of keeping the economy open over the past year."
The public will be able to register for an appointment using the state's MyTurn system.
California has struggled mightily to distribute vaccinations over the past several weeks, with a myriad of issues ranging from a supply shortage to vaccine sign-up websites being overwhelmed and crashing.
Currently in Los Angeles County, only healthcare workers, nursing home residents and those over age 65 are eligible to receive the vaccine.
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According to the latest state numbers Tuesday, California has received 5.78 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and has administered 3.65 million of them. Newsom told reporters Wednesday that the state was receiving about 1.06 million doses this week.
L.A. County, meanwhile, has administered at least 917,000 doses so far.
There are several massive COVID-19 vaccination sites across L.A. County. Dodger Stadium is by far the largest of five vaccination sites operated by the city of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti has said that when there are finally enough doses, Dodger Stadium will be capable of vaccinating up to 12,000 people per day.
There are also another seven large-scale vaccination sites being run by the L.A. County Public Health Department. They are located at Magic Mountain, the Pomona Fairplex, The Forum, Cal State Northridge, El Sereno Recreation Center, the L.A. County Office of Education in Downey and the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino.
