After San Diego County’s deadliest day of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a second super vaccination site for the region opened Thursday in Chula Vista.
The Chula Vista site builds off the county’s first vaccination superstation outside of Petco Park and is expected to administer up to 5,000 vaccine doses every day.
Firefighters and nursing students helped administer vaccines to eligible residents at the Chula Vista site, the old Sears building, 565 Broadway.
County Supervisor Nora Vargas said the new location was selected to provide an equitable distribution of vaccines, especially to hard-hit communities like those in the South Bay.
“Any of the future investments, including vaccine distribution, is going to be made in communities where the highest need is in the region, and we're going to do this based on science and data,” she said.
Both the Petco Park and Chula Vista locations are administering vaccines seven days a week to people eligible under Phase 1A. That includes health care workers, those in long-term care facilities and individuals 75 and older.
The Petco Park location is organized by the County and City of San Diego in partnership with UC San Diego Health. Meanwhile, the Chula Vista site has the city of Chula Vista and the County working alongside Sharp HealthCare.
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Another difference between the two sites is that the Petco superstation is a drive-thru facility, while the Chula Vista site is walk-in only.
Sharp Grossmont Hospital CEO Scott Evans was the on-site manager in Chula Vista on Thursday and said the new location is just starting to increase its capacity.
“Right now we are scaling it to be able to deliver 5,000 vaccines on any given day,” Evans said. “And we really do believe we can scale up higher than that. This is really built out for even a higher capacity. We will start today with 1,800 vaccines being given.”
Across Southern California, COVID-19 super vaccination sites continue to grow with two locations up and running in Orange County and six now operating across Los Angeles County.
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas said the new supersite in her city is a positive step to getting more San Diegans vaccinated on a daily basis.
“While the rollout of the vaccine has seemed slow, it’s collaborations like this one that we are announcing today that improves access to a life-saving vaccine that will allow us to return our kids to school, reopen our businesses and rebuild our economy," Salas said.
Sharp HealthCare will start vaccinating some of their own patients 75 and older starting Friday at select locations. Those eligible will be directly contacted by their provider.
Vaccination appointments can be booked online at the county’s website. Starting Friday, people 75 and older without computer access will also be able to call 211 for assistance.
