The Californer - San Francisco Launches COVID-19 Vaccination Site at the SF Market in the Bayview

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San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed, Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton, and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced the launch of a third high-volume vaccination site in San Francisco. The site, which opened Monday at the SF Market in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood at 901 Rankin Street, advances San Francisco's efforts to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. As with other vaccination sites in San Francisco, the SF Market location will initially offer vaccinations to people 65 and older and healthcare workers. Due to current supply constraints, the initial doses given per day will be limited, but the site is ready to expand rapidly once supply increases.

This new location, which is operated by the City and staffed in partnership with Sutter Health, is the third high-volume vaccination site that San Francisco and health care partners have opened in the past month. Two additional high-volume vaccination sites are located at the Moscone Center and the City College of San Francisco. These high-volume sites serve anyone who meets their eligibility requirements regardless of health coverage, by appointment only, and are part of San Francisco's network of vaccination sites to facilitate the quick and efficient delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.

The City's network of vaccination sites includes targeted efforts to ensure communities most highly-impacted by COVID-19 receive equitable access to the vaccine. The Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood has had the highest rate of cases throughout this pandemic, and one of the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19. The City's efforts include neighborhood vaccine access sites, San Francisco Department of Public Health's (DPH) community clinics, mobile vaccination teams, and partnerships with pharmacies.

"With this site at the SF Market, we're bringing access to the vaccine closer to people who live in the Bayview Hunters Point area and the southeast of the city," said Mayor London Breed. "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 SF Market vaccination site will initially operate Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by appointment only. Due to the limited vaccine supply at this time, appointments for the first week of operations will be by invitation only. Once vaccine supply becomes more available, appointments and hours at SF Market will expand. People 65 and older and healthcare workers can make an appointment regardless of their health coverage status or provider by going to SF.gov/getvaccinated and booking an appointment through Sutter's My Health Online portal. Those who do not have access to a computer can schedule an appointment through Sutter's call center at 844-987-6115.

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"We wanted to make sure that the COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed and administered equitably. We wanted to ensure the vaccine is available in neighborhoods where we have seen higher numbers of individuals contracting the virus," said Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton. "Having a high volume vaccination site in District 10, and partnering with the SF Market in Bayview, demonstrates we are committed to the health and safety of communities disproportionately affected by the virus. We will continue to fight for vaccine accessibility for everyone."

The opening of this site will allow the City and Sutter Health to effectively build the vaccination infrastructure needed so that when more vaccine supply is available it can be quickly, efficiently, and equitably distributed. The SF Market vaccination site will begin with an initial launch to test operations, establish successful processes, and ensure safety for patients and workers. While vaccine supply remains the limiting factor in the short-term, the site will have the capacity to vaccinate more than 1,000 people per day once fully operational. Appointments are required and will remain limited in the short-term due to the constrained and unpredictable vaccine supply coming to San Francisco.

The SF Market location is designed to allow for multiple providers to provide vaccination concurrently. Starting on Thursday, the City will also be providing additional vaccinations, administered by DPH and the San Francisco Fire Department, to vaccinate people 65 and older who live in the Bayview.

"The opening of this high-volume vaccination site at the SF Market represents an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to build a robust and flexible vaccine distribution system," said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Public Health. "This is our third high volume vaccination site and it will be a critical asset for achieving the twin goals of administering the vaccine at scale and making sure that the vaccine is accessible to neighborhoods like the Bayview that have been highly impacted by COVID and that are underserved by the existing healthcare system. Vaccine supply coming to San Francisco continues to be insufficient to vaccinate all eligible populations, but we are working tirelessly to establish a distribution infrastructure that will allow us to swiftly and equitably distribute every dose of the vaccine that we receive."

"As an integrated network, Sutter has moved swiftly to establish and expand several large-scale vaccinations sites across Northern California," said Rob Nordgren, M.D., area CEO for Sutter Bay Medical Foundation in the Peninsula and San Francisco regions. "Community-based clinics, like the one we're opening in the Bayview neighborhood today, will increase access to residents of disproportionally affected neighborhoods and are an important part of our commitment to continue to deploy as much vaccine as possible to all eligible patients, as supply allows."

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"This site was selected to support a community that has been leaving home to go to work every day since this pandemic began," said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management. "We are pleased to offer vaccine here this week to those in Phase 1a and are excited to expand eligibility to essential service workers soon, especially at a location in the Southeast section of the city where so many live and work."

"The San Francisco Fire Department is proud to continue the effort to fight COVID-19 under the leadership of Mayor London Breed," said San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson. "Our members stand ready to vaccinate as many people as possible in the coming days, weeks and months. The opening of this Bayview site is another step towards getting our City fully opened."

The SF Market, formerly called the SF Wholesale Produce Market, is a wholesale marketplace that connects growers and their produce to food businesses throughout the Bay Area. The 23-acre campus is home to 28 merchant businesses and more than 1,000 employees. The vaccination site at 901 Rankin is an 82,000-square-foot LEED Gold Certified warehouse and was completed as part of the SF Market Reinvestment Project in 2014.

"We are delighted to lend a hand to the City during this critical time," said Eli Zigas, President, Board of Directors, The SF Market. "The SF Market's infrastructure is an important resource for our city, region and state, and we are proud to support the economic and social recovery from the pandemic."

This new site complements existing vaccination sites located in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood and people who live in neighborhoods most impacted by COVID-19, including:

Southeast Health Center (2401 Keith Street)

Drop-in vaccinations available for people 65 and older living in the following zip codes: 94107, 94110, 94112, 94124, and 94134
7 days a week, 9:00am to 3:00pm

Zuckerberg San Francisco General (1001 Potrero Avenue, Learning Center, Building 30 on the 2nd floor (off 23rd Street))

Drop-in vaccinations available for people 65 and older living in the following zip codes: 94107, 94110, 94112, 94124, and 94134
7 days a week, 9:00am to 3:00pm

Additional sites are located at the City College of San Francisco, Moscone Center, San Francisco State University, and at DPH community clinics. The City has developed a webpage for people who live and work in San Francisco to find vaccination sites in San Francisco and book appointments. People who are eligible to be vaccinated can sign-up for an appointment at: SF.gov/getvaccinated.

Last week, Mayor Breed announced that starting February 24, COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to individuals identified as eligible for vaccination in Phase 1B, Tier 1 of California's population prioritization plan. This includes people who work in the education and childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture sectors.

This expansion into Phase 1B, Tier 1 is occurring as San Francisco, in partnership with healthcare providers, continues to expand its vaccine infrastructure but vaccine supply remains limited. Phase 1B, Tier 1 is comprised of more than 115,000 individuals who live or work in San Francisco, in addition to the approximately 210,000 healthcare workers and people 65 and older who are currently eligible.

Anyone who works or lives in San Francisco can sign up for a notification when they are eligible for vaccination at SF.gov/vaccinenotify. The City will continue to provide regular updates to the public about the vaccine in San Francisco at: SF.gov/covidvaccine.

Filed Under: Government, City

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