The mass vaccination site at the Oakland Coliseum is officially closed. Alameda County officials said they administered more than 500,000 shots. But they’re still working to reach community members that haven’t been vaccinated yet.
Ganeshwar Chand got his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Oakland coliseum Sunday. He said he liked the location.
“It was convenient there was nobody there I think it was the best time to go,” he said.
The mass vaccination site, one of the first in the Bay Area closed Sunday. It had been up and running since February.
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Alameda County officials said the decision was made to close the site after the demand had dropped to about 400 first doses a day. At its peak, it was around 6,000 to 8,000 doses a day.
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“We’re celebrating this site having vaccinated, we had over 500,000 shots,” said Dr. Kathleen Clanon, who oversaw the site.
Clanon said they’re finding people who wanted the vaccine right away have gotten it.
“We’re definitely safer than we were as a community as a result getting to so many people. But there are still plenty of communities in Alameda County that haven’t reached that safety spot yet. We want to make it really convenient for them,” she added.
Alameda County officials said that they are investing their staff and vaccine in mobile pop-ups where people are, like work sites and churches and leaning into areas that are underrepresented.
“We have not reached as many latinx or black residents as we have people in other racial groups,” Clanon said.
The site nearly closed early, but a local effort to keep it open prevailed. “I’m grateful that we had this incredible resource anchored here in east Oakland,” said Oakland councilmember Loren Taylor.
Taylor added that it’s important not be complacent and keep focus on getting vaccinations into hard to reach communities. “
Now is the time we have to go deeper into the community. Really engaging people one on one to help get past whatever is holding them back from getting vaccinated and make it easier eliminate those barriers,” he said.
