Oakland Coliseum Becomes Mass Vaccination Site, Sorry A’s!

Remember when you used to drive to the Coliseum for Raiders games & a raucous tailgating scene?  Now you’re gonna go there for a corona virus vaccine.  The Federal Government (thanks to Biden’s team) is setting up a mass vaccination station where The Black Hole used to be in Oakland.

FEMA plans to hire locals at the vaccination center, so some of these fans may actually help give you a vaccine this year.  Just picture them in scrubs.

The Fed’s goal is to do 6,000 doses a day starting Feb. 16, to underserved communities.  This means frontline workers and people without insurance can get vaccinations.

Newsom held press conference outside the Coliseum yesterday and told reporters, “Equity is the call of this moment,” Newsom said. “The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities that are often left behind are not left behind, they’re prioritized in terms of the administration of these vaccines.”

CA is partnering with the Biden Administration and @FEMA to set up 2 first-in-the-nation vaccination pilot sites at Oakland Coliseum & CSU Los Angeles.

The site will be open to people who are eligible to get vaccinated under Alameda County rules, but there will no restrictions based on residence and the goal is to make it a regional resource, according to Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Office of Emergency Services.

The state previously announced mass-vaccination locations at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego and the Cal Expo fairgrounds in Sacramento.  Newsom has also announced that CA is now averaging more than 1 million vaccinations per week.  At the current pace, in a state with a population bordering on 40 Million people, we would see everyone in CA vaccinated by the end of this year.

Checked in at 9:30 for my mom’s vaccine appointment at Dodger Stadium. I’ll update our progress here for people tracking wait times. The line of cars is moving along steadily ? ? ? Thank you to all the staff and volunteers out here in the rain. pic.twitter.com/w1xmBYMHd8

— Candice Kim (@EJ4LA) January 29, 2021

The mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium has been running pretty smoothly thus far, but hopefully we pick up the overall pace of vaccination statewide, daddy is tired of working from home, and I’m sure you are too.

Alameda County has said that starting next week, it will begin offering vaccines to people who are at least 65 years old, as well as emergency services workers, teachers and child care providers, and workers in the food and agriculture industry.

To find out when you are eligible to get your vaccine visit the Alameda County COVID info page at:covid-19.acgov.org/vaccines.  There you can even signup to get notified when it’s your turn.

Don’t forget that the Coliseum is still home to the Oakland A’s, who are scheduled to start playing April 1st. But anyone who thinks there will be fans in the stands by April first, is a fool.

Go A’s! Go FEMA! Go get vaccinated!