Temporary trailers and tents are set up in a parking lot at the Cal State Los Angeles campus that has been transformed into a new COVID-19 mass vaccination site.
The vaccination site east of downtown LA, part of a joint effort between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the governor's Office of Emergency Services, is set to open Tuesday at Cal State Los Angeles. The community-focused site will be able to vaccinate up to 6,000 people per day for both drive-thru and walk-up appointments and will also deploy a mobile clinic that will visit local community centers and schools.
u003ca href=u0022https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/coronavirus/plan-your-vaccine-find-out-how-to-get-a-vaccine-anywhere-in-the-us/2524592/u0022u003ePlan Your Vaccineu003c/au003e: How and where to get vaccinated.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration announced the pilot project Wednesday and said it is part of a wider effort to establish 100 vaccination sites nationwide during the president's first 100 days in office. The Cal State Los Angeles site -- along with a similar site at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum -- will be co-run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of California.
FEMA will provide resources and federal staffing support, as well as operational support.
List: Click here to see locations for all Southern California vaccine super-sites.
Officials said the two California locations were chosen because they're in 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.
Preparations for both locations are underway and the sites are expected to be open to eligible members of the public this week. Registration for vaccine appointments at the Cal State L.A. site will be available here.
Los Angeles County has reported 1,936 new cases of COVID-19 and 82 additional deaths, but officials said the relatively low numbers may reflect reporting delays over the holiday weekend.
The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals continues to fall, dropping from 3,426 Saturday to 3,270 Sunday, with 30% of those people in intensive care. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health said Saturday that the county's hospitalization rate has declined 37% since Feb. 1.
The seven-day average for the county's daily test positivity rate, which has also been steadily declining, dropped to 5.1% Sunday from 5.3% the previous day.
The new site opens as the county and city of Los Angeles faces supply challenges. The county has been receiving roughly 200,000 doses each week, although the actual amount has varied wildly week-to-week, making advance planning for reservations difficult.
Supplies were so limited last week that the city of Los Angeles was forced to close the Dodger Stadium vaccination site and four other locations through the weekend because it exhausted its supply by Thursday afternoon. The city plans to prioritize second-dose vaccination appointments this week, noting that first doses will be severely limited until more shipments arrive.
