Oakland Zoo Gives Away Free Vaccinations and Free Family Passes at Sunday Clinic

The Oakland Zoo is not only giving you the chance to take care of that vaccination this weekend, but they’ll throw in a fat family entry pass with parking for your trouble.

The pop-up clinic on Sunday at the zoo’s Zimmerman Auditorium is administering first doses to all eligible teens and adults, though they do note they’ll be strictly vaccinating humans that day (more on that below). Once you’ve received your first shot, you’ll also receive a free family pass for two adults and two children, including parking for one vehicle to visit the zoo that day or on another day of your choosing. 

The perk package is a $98 value, which is a pretty cherry deal on top of the live-saving vaccine sundae.

Sunday’s clinic, made possible in partnership with the Alameda County Health Department and Carbon Health, will run between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and a second-dose clinic will be held on Saturday, Aug. 14 in the same location. People can either drop in or pre-register for a  scheduled appointment by creating a free Carbon Health Patient Account account by visiting the provider website here. Neither insurance or proof of citizenship is required

A jaguar lounges in a fire hose hammock at the Oakland Zoo. The hoses are repurposed by Hose2Habitat. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service – Pacific Southwest Region)

Interestingly, some four-legged Oakland Zoo residents have actually stepped up to be vaccinated themselves. It was reported earlier this month that the New Jersey-based veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis donated COVID-19 doses to be tried on tigers, black and grizzly bears, mountain lions and ferrets in a national proactive effort to protect some larger species from potential infection by way of returning humans, which appears can actually happen. Even more reason to be inoculated before you come too close.

Zoetis is donating in excess of 11,000 doses to serve animals at nearly 70 animal sites across 27 states, according to the press release. 

Alameda County, including Berkeley, has so far fully vaccinated 70.4 percent of its eligible residents aged 12 and older. Nearly 83 percent have received at least one dose. Still, the county is experiencing a surge in new daily cases fueled by the Delta variant. The county reported 282 new cases on July 16 versus just 44 on the same date one month prior.