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San Francisco International Airport is unexpectedly becoming a hotspot for visitors from around the world looking to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Travelers increasingly travel to (or make pit stops) at SFO before their final destination to get the Johnson & Johnson single-injection vaccine – which is less readily available in other parts of the world.
According to reports from KCBS and NBC Bay Area, 80% of appointments for the SFO vaccination clinic are booked by international tourists. KCBS notes that around 1,000 people from 58 countries were vaccinated at the airport.
Alberto Evangelista, an employee of the vaccination clinic, told NBC Bay Area that people “sometimes log their flights here just to get the vaccine.”
Airport spokesman Doug Yakel told the TV station that offering these vaccines to tourists is a win-win solution, ensuring that less popular vaccines are not wasted and that more people in the world are vaccinated.
“This ensures that those doses of vaccine that are in our supply are not wasted,” Yakel said in an interview. “And this use and more is coming from people who find it difficult to access it in their home country.”
Yakel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
Vaccine appointments are always available – both for outsiders and locals – from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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