Gov. Gavin Newsom toured the Vaccination Super Station at Petco Park Monday and congratulated San Diego on its work administering doses at the state's first-of-its-kind mass vaccination site, nearly one month after it opened.
The governor held his daily COVID-19 update on the infield of Petco Park, during which he said San Diego "inspired others all throughout the state of California" with its vaccination super station, where about one-third of all county residents who have been vaccinated received their doses, according to officials.
Saying he had "deep respect and deep admiration" for county leadership, Newsom said San Diego County is "leading this state, per capita, in the administration and distribution of this vaccine."
But Newsom acknowledged a nationwide vaccine scarcity and said distribution needs to be ramped up locally to vaccinate a state of nearly 40 million people.
Curious how the vaccine rollout is going in San Diego County? KPBS is tracking the progress.
So far, more than 4.65 million vaccinations have been administered in California and the state received just over one million new doses last week, according to Newsom, who said California is anticipated to receive about the same number of doses by the end of the week.
Newsom said the Petco Park site — where an average of 5,000 people are vaccinated per day and more than 100,000 vaccinations have been administered so far — could serve double the amount of people if there was more certainty regarding vaccine supply.
Though he said more work needed to be done to get vaccines into the hands of Californians, including by increasing mobile distribution for those unable to travel to vaccination stations like those at Petco Park, the governor said recent declines in COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and ICU admissions were encouraging.
Newsom also touched on prioritizing the safe reopening of schools, with the governor saying vaccinating teachers would be central to the reopening efforts.
"It is my desire to get our schools safely open as quickly as we can," Newsom said.
The governor also mentioned Monday a plan to get teachers vaccinated would be brought to the state legislature this week.
"We are prioritizing our teachers," he said. "We want to clarify that further."
Newsom was joined Monday by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, County Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher, and San Diego Padres CEO Erik Greupner.
Gloria encouraged San Diegans to get vaccinated as soon as possible once their opportunity becomes available.
"It is the quickest way out of this public health crisis," Gloria said. "Do it for yourself. Do it for your family. Do it for your neighbors. Do it for your friends who are vulnerable and have underlying health conditions. Do it for your city. Do it for all of us."
