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After putting more than 200,000 coronavirus vaccines in the arms of San Diegans, the mass vaccination site near Petco Park will close permanently at the end of Saturday.
A spokesperson for UC San Diego Health, which operates the site, informed the San Diego Union-Tribune of the shutdown on Monday. She added that UCSD is hopeful that anyone still waiting for a second dose of vaccine at the site will inject them by the end of the week.
There are probably several thousand people in this position. Superstation offers the Moderna vaccine, which requires two injections to maximize immunity to the coronavirus. More than 120,000 people received a first dose of the vaccine on site, but only about 85,000 received a second dose.
These figures do not include people who received their first dose at the Petco Park site and went elsewhere for their second injection, or those who will be vaccinated in the next few days.
Anyone who still has an on-site vaccination appointment will receive a message through MyChart, UCSD’s electronic notification system. The health care system is urging those who do not yet have an appointment for the second dose to make one by calling 800-926-8273 or 211 – but only if you have also had your first injection at the site. downtown.
The superstation, located in the tailgate parking lot at Petco Park, was the county’s first mass vaccination site and has served as a model for other such sites across the state and country. The county, UC San Diego, the city of San Diego and the Padres came together to kick off the superstation on January 11. But with the Padres’ baseball season set to begin in April, the site’s closure was inevitable.
The superstation has opened, closed and reopened in line with the region’s fragile vaccine supply. This has at times caused widespread confusion and frustration among the residents of San Diegans who were suddenly informed that their appointment had been canceled. And that made UCSD suspicious of helping set up another mass vaccination site, although Dr David Brenner, vice chancellor for health sciences, says the health system is open to doing so – with the San Diego Convention Center as a possible future location.
“We’re excited to help the county with this, as we’ve done with Petco,” said Brenner. “But we really need to have a smarter vaccine delivery system in the future. Because otherwise, it leaves everyone terribly vulnerable to all of these cancellations.
The rollout of vaccines in the region has changed dramatically since the opening of the downtown superstation. More than 715,000 San Diegans have received a coronavirus vaccine, and the county now has five other superstations in La Jolla, Chula Vista, La Mesa, San Marcos and Del Mar.
Vaccine once shipped from the county to the Petco Park site will now be shipped to those sites, as well as other sites scattered across the region – including a new site that will open in Oceanside on Tuesday.
The North Coast Health and Human Services Center on Mission Avenue, one block east of Interstate 5, will be able to administer up to 700 strokes per day, county officials said. . It will replace a clinic that opened Jan. 24 at the North Coastal Live Well Center on Ocean Ranch Boulevard and has reached 300 vaccinations per day.
A crew of 13 National Guard doctors and administrators will run the clinic with help from the county. The new Oceanside location has a total of 50 first dose appointments and several second dose appointments for Tuesday. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be offered on the site.
The facility can also administer the new single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine when it becomes available, said Jennifer Bransford-Koons, county director of vaccine operations.
The site is located in zip code 92058, which has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. There were about 9,619 coronavirus infections per 100,000 people in the region, compared to about 7,926 per 100,000 people for the county as a whole.
“It’s in the middle of the Latin American community that will be able to walk here,” said Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez.
The site is also a short walk from the Eastside and Crown Heights and a short drive to the San Luis Rey Valley. And it sits along one of the city’s main transit arteries.
Residents of the postal code will be given priority for appointments, but people from across the region will be accepted, officials said.
“It’s a big day for Oceanside and a big day for the county,” said county supervisor Jim Desmond, who attended a press conference at the facility with Sanchez, San Marcos councilor María Nuñez and others to announce the opening.
From Tuesday, the site will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday. Appointments can be made through MyTurn, the state’s online vaccine notification and scheduling system (myturn.ca.gov), or by calling 211 for older San Diegans who do not have an computer.
Whether the new Oceanside location actually distributes 700 shots per day will depend on supply, which remains unpredictable. Case in point: Superstation Del Mar Fairgrounds, run by Scripps Health, will close Wednesday, Friday and Saturday due to a low supply of Pfizer vaccine. A spokesperson for Scripps said anyone whose appointment is canceled will be notified through MyTurn and automatically rescheduled to a later date.
On Monday, the county reported 178 new coronavirus infections, one new hospitalization and no additional deaths from COVID-19.
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