City Launches Bayview Vaccination Site Days After Dose Shortage Forces Pause at Other Locations

It’s been just two days since San Francisco officials announced a forced pause in new appointments at City College and Moscone Center mass vaccination sites due to shortage in dose supply. Despite that reality, a third high-volume site was opened this week in the Bayview nieghborhood.

While it may seem counterintuitive to open new sites without full operation at others, health officials are forging ahead with plans to meet community needs as supply increases. According to a press release, the new Bayview site “advances San Francisco’s efforts to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

The Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood is one of the hardest hit San Francisco areas, reporting the third highest case count per capita. Mayor London Breed said Tuesday:

“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve made sure our City’s response to COVID-19 is equitable, and we’re continuing that work by locating vaccination sites in the communities that have been hit the hardest. Supply remains very limited right now, but we’re making sure that we have the infrastructure in place throughout our city, and we’re prepared to vaccinate at least 10,000 people per day once we start receiving more doses.”

The new site opened in partnership with Sutter Health is located at the SF Market at 901 Rankin Street. At peak capacity, the city expects the site to administer up to 1,000 doses per day. That, of course, is contingent on supply increase. 

Due to the shortage issue, first appointments will be given on an invitation basis but appointments will be available going forward to healthcare workers and people over the age of 65. Appointments can be online through Sutter Health, though being a network patient is not required.

Sunday, officials announced that the Moscone Center would shut down vaccine operations for at least one week and that the City College site would immediately limit appointments to those already scheduled and those who required second doses. 

On a positive note, Jeff Zients, who acts as the Biden administration’s COVID-19 czar, said Tuesday that state vaccine dose shipments will increase by 20 percent beginning this week.