Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]. Bay City News [BCN].
The City of San Francisco opened the city's first high-volume COVID-19 vaccination site Friday at San Francisco City College, a center that was established to assist the city in reaching its goal of vaccinating all residents by June.
The vaccination site at the university's main campus on Ocean Avenue is being operated by the city and staffed by health care workers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
However, for now, appointments will be by invitation only because supplies remain limited.
Once fully operational, the city expects to be able to vaccinate up to three thousand people per day at the site, and once more doses of the vaccine are secured, the city expects to increase that number to 10 thousand people per day.
"Large vaccination sites, like this one at City College, will be critical to getting people vaccinated quickly and safely, and getting our city on the road to recovery," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
"San Francisco has a plan and we are ready to distribute 10,000 doses per day once we have enough vaccine. To fully implement this plan, we need more vaccine and we will continue to do everything we can to be ready when our vaccine supply increases," he added.
According to city officials, the City College site is the first of three planned vaccination sites. The other two sites to open in the coming weeks are in the works at the Moscone Center in the South of Market neighborhood and the San Francisco Market in Bayview.
After opening the three sites, the city hopes to expand vaccination efforts to other neighborhoods such as Mission, Western Addition and Chinatown, with the goal of eventually vaccinating virtually all residents by June.
Dr. Grant Colfax of the San Francisco Department of Public Health called Friday's launch "an important milestone" in ending the pandemic.
"While the supply of vaccine coming into San Francisco remains extremely limited, this site and the other high-volume vaccination sites opening in the coming weeks will provide the physical space, medical staff and logistical processes to efficiently administer vaccine when needed," he said.
Because the vaccine is distributed to health care providers through the California Department of Public Health, the city has little control over the delivery process.
Under the state's vaccination plan, Phase 1A includes health care workers and residents in long-term care facilities. Level One of Phase 1B includes people 65 years of age and older and those working in food, agriculture, education, child care and emergency services.
City officials said the city still needs at least 420,000 doses of the vaccine to complete Phase 1A and vaccinate people 65 and older.
The city encourages those who live or work in San Francisco to register at www.sf.gov/vaccinenotify to be notified once they are eligible to receive the vaccine.
