The new site plans to vaccinate more than 5,000 people per day.
Petco Park’s Tailgate Lot is now home to a massive vaccination operation. The site, which opened on Monday, was set up in just a matter of days, thanks to a collaboration amongst San Diego officials, UC San Diego and the San Diego Padres.
The goal of the 280,000-square-foot ‘super station’ is to roll out vaccines to healthcare workers as quickly as possible. On Monday, the site expected to vaccinate around 2,500 people, with the hope of increasing the daily number of administered vaccines to at least 5,000 by the end of the week.
Proud to host the first San Diego COVID-19 Vaccination Super Station with the @Padres, @UCSDHealth, @CityofSanDiego, and @SanDiegoCounty! pic.twitter.com/RKuGMzAwKc
— Petco Park (@PetcoPark) January 11, 2021
The center has several dozen tents set up and more than 300 people working to get patients in and out as quickly as possible. Vaccines are currently being administered to healthcare workers in Phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan, and are by appointment only. The ‘Vaccination Super Station’ is set up as a drive-thru operation so that those being inoculated don’t even need to get out of their cars to receive their dose.
People receiving vaccinations are asked to remain at the site for a 15-minute observation period following their inoculation. Before leaving, they also receive a vaccination card with the date of their next dose.
#HappeningNow: The first cars are headed into the County’s vaccination super station. About 2,500 local Phase 1-A health care workers are set to receive the Moderna vaccine here today. @nbcsandiego pic.twitter.com/JzVE5BZW8W
— Audra Stafford📺🎬🎭 (@AudraStaffordTV) January 11, 2021
“Our focus is making sure that any vaccine we have in the county is going into arms as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Christopher Longhurst of UC San Diego in an interview with CBS8 on Monday. “Our experience is, the faster we do that, the faster we’re going to get more vaccine from the state of California.” He added that he believes we will see more sites like this in mall parking lots, amphitheaters, fairgrounds and other similar locations in the future.
The ‘Vaccination Super Station’ is open every day from 7am until 7pm. To make an appointment and find more information about this vaccination site, visit the San Diego County webpage.
Address: 1235 K St, San Diego
Entrance: Corner of K Street and 13th Street
[Featured image: San Diego Padres]