Plan for mass COVID vaccination center at Stockton Arena is stalled. What happened?
Kaiser Permanente has delayed opening a mass vaccination clinic in Stockton, citing a smaller coronavirus vaccine supply than anticipated.
The Oakland-based health system and a group of health care providers planned to use the Stockton Arena as a COVID-19 vaccine hub for San Joaquin County.
The plan to launch the mass vaccination center on Tuesday is delayed “pending the necessary vaccine supply,” Kaiser said.
“San Joaquin County Public Health and many of our county partners have been looking forward to the opening of this vaccine site with much anticipation,” said Dr. Maggie Park, the county’s health officer. “Despite the delayed start date, we remain confident that this site will offer a huge boost to our vaccination efforts, and it will be especially crucial in light of the expanded vaccine eligibility criteria in April.”
In a news release, Kaiser and its partners said they remain committed to opening the Stockton site when enough vaccine is received.
The Stockton hub is supposed to receive a separate allocation of vaccine from the state.
The same consortium has run coronavirus vaccine hubs at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California, giving more than 323,000 shots to the public and patients served by the health care providers.
Kaiser said the delay in opening the Stockton vaccine center does not affect vaccinations at other locations operated by Kaiser Permanente and the partners in the consortium.
“All vaccine providers, Kaiser Permanente included, expect supply will continue to be a challenge in the coming weeks, pending an anticipated increase in the month of May,” the news release said.
Appointments at mass vaccination centers and other clinics can be scheduled online at the state’s My Turn program.
Starting Thursday, adults age 50 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in California. The age limit will be lowered to 16 years old and above on April 15.
