COVID Vaccines: San Francisco Opening 3 Vaccination Sites, Sets Goal of 10,000 Vaccinations A Day
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco plans to create three major vaccination sites in the near future with the goal of vaccinating 10,000 residents a day against COVID-19.
Mayor London Breed announced the city's plans during a press conference Friday. While she noted that she couldn't give definitive answers on when the sites would be operational, she said that one could be open by the end of next week.
Breed said the three sites will be located in the South of Market neighborhood at Moscone Center, in the Ingleside District at City College of San Francisco, and at the SF Market in the Bayview District.
"We are doing everything we can to help get people vaccinated as quickly as possible," Breed said. "The vaccine is the most important tool we have to end this pandemic once and for all, and getting people protected from this virus is our top priority.
READ MORE: Bay Area COVID-19 Vaccine Resources Page
Breed also announced that starting Tuesday, Jan.19, residents can sign up at SF.gov/vaccinenotify to be notified when they are eligible for vaccination.
According to a release issued by the city, San Francisco will be partnering in the vaccine distribution effort with Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Health, Dignity Health, Sutter Health/California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) and the Department of Public Health, which provides healthcare to the uninsured and underinsured.
Later in the press conference, San Francisco Department of Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said that the city is about to embark on the "most ambitious vaccine distribution effort in our City's history."
"This is a historic and hopeful moment for all of us. We are working with all of our health partners to ensure an effective and equitable distribution," Colfax explained. "We have been planning for months now to be ready to vaccinate as many people as fast as possible when the vaccine is more readily available from the federal and state government."
Critics of the city's handling of vaccinations like Supervisor Matt Haney took to Twitter to celebrate the announcement.
San Francisco received a little less than 34,000 vaccine doses so far and have only distributed around 12,000 as of Thursday.
Breed stated emphatically during her announcement that the city was ready to administer 10,000 vaccinations a day, but pointed out officials have yet to receive an adequate supply of the COVID-19 vaccine. Local politicians have criticized the state for its sluggish rollout of its vaccination program, which is one of the slowest in the nation.
"Locations are easy to get access to all over San Francisco," Breed said. "Locations are not the problem; it's the supply."
As of Friday, San Francisco County had reported 27,866 COVID-19 cases and 237 deaths.
To read more about San Francisco's vaccination plan, visit the mayor's website.
