A mass COVID-19 vaccination site that's designed to eventually vaccinate 6,000 people per day has opened at the Oakland Coliseum.
The site in the parking lot outside the stadium is by appointment only. People must sign up on the myturn.ca.gov website.
The site is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in conjunction with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California National Guard.
FEMA and Cal OES are trying to keep the wait time down to less than an hour. The site is open between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days a week for at least the next eight weeks.
"We’re here for the long haul," Tina Curry with Cal OES said. "We’re here for several weeks."
The vaccine supply is coming straight from the federal government, not from Alameda County.
As for those who may try their luck and wait outside the Coliseum for any leftover doses, Curry said: "I'd hate to see people waiting or creating lines outside for something that may not come to be. So, really, I just want to encourage people, we are here for awhile. Please, I’ve said it about five times, be patient because there will be openings."
The site is a pilot site for the rest of the country — the first of 100 vaccination sites planned nationwide by the Biden administration.
