COVID-19 testing at Dodger Stadium has stopped and vaccinations have begun.
On Friday, the stadium was converted into a vaccination supersite with the capacity to administer over 12,000 shots a day. It’s one of many venues that will be transformed into a distribution center in Southern California, including Disneyland. The switch from the testing site to the vaccination site is part of an effort to help speed up the inoculation of half a million healthcare workers in the state.
To ramp up vaccine deployment, we are opening a mega-site at Dodger Stadium.
Right now, vaccines are available to health care workers and will be expanded to others in weeks and months ahead. pic.twitter.com/ZdrdZTj6Th
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) January 16, 2021
Thousands of cars poured into the parking lots at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and weaved through the sea of orange cones to receive jabs from masked workers. Over 2,000 shots have already been given at the venue, currently focused on vaccinating frontline workers. Residents with an appointment will be able to arrive at the stadium parking lot, where they’ll be screened and have their identification checked to make sure they have an appointment before receiving the vaccine free of charge.
Dodger Stadium is now one of the largest vaccination sites in the country — scaling up to vaccinating 12,000+ people daily. pic.twitter.com/gz79EK0Dz8
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 16, 2021
Governor Gavin Newsom says the state is on track to reach its goal of delivering the drug to 1 million people in 10 days. Meanwhile, L.A. County alone has crossed the 1 million case threshold.
Public Health Announces First Confirmed Case of U.K. Coronavirus Variant as Los Angeles County Surpasses 1 Million Total Cases; 253 New Deaths and 14,669 New Positive Cases of #COVID19. View https://t.co/iIME3A7PAg for More Information. pic.twitter.com/smSgaOsk0N
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) January 16, 2021
Although the state received the most doses of any in the country, the rollout has been incredibly slow, with only a quarter of its supply used so far, according to the John Hopkins University tracker. Other large venues like Fairplex in Pomona and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia open up for vaccinations on Tuesday, which will hopefully deliver the necessary momentum.
Find out when and where you’ll be receiving a vaccine here.
Featured Image: Mayor Eric Garcetti via Twitter