First day of mega vaccine clinic delivers thousands of doses - The San Diego Union-Tribune

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San Diego County’s first large coronavirus vaccination clinic put more than 2,500 doses in arms during its first full day of operation Monday as local coronavirus activity appeared to be riding a plateau.

Vehicles filed into the tailgate lot at Petco Park from 7 a.m. past 7 p.m., proceeding under a series of white canopies that allowed them to check in, get their shots and wait 15 minutes to make sure there were no severe side effects before leaving the area.

It was a transformative experience for Dr. Christopher Longhurst, chief information officer for and a pediatrician with UC San Diego Health, which brought hundreds of its own workers downtown to staff the massive operation in cooperation with the county health department, the Padres and local law enforcement, who directed traffic.

A Vaccination Super Station opened at Tailgate Park, providing large-scale COVID-19 vaccinations.

Longhurst said he was among the medical professionals who started giving shots at 7 a.m., continuing until 3 p.m., having administered 75 vaccinations by that time.

“It felt like we were finally getting somewhere, you know?” Longhurst said. “Vaccinating dozens and dozens of people today, it was just really, really heartening.

“It made me feel like we’re at the beginning of the end of this pandemic.”

Health care workers line up to get a COVID-19 vaccine at a Vaccination Super Station which opened at Tailgate Park.

The county health department declared Friday that it intended to vaccinate 5,000 daily at the new “vaccination superstation,” but later clarified that it does not expect to hit that kind of volume until Friday.

Through the weekend, county officials said they were not sure exactly where the full vaccine supply would come from to continue administering thousands of doses day after day. There were said to be only about 8,000 doses on hand over the weekend, but, according to a spokesman, a shipment of approximately 55,000 doses arrived Monday.

The latest daily COVID-19 tracking report listed 2,907 additional cases, down somewhat compared to recent reports. Daily new-case totals have exceeded 3,000 every day since last Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Hhealth care workers got a COVID-19 vaccine at a Vaccination Super Station which opened at Tailgate Park.

COVID-related hospitalizations have also plateaued, sitting at 1,759 Sunday and generally staying around the 1,750 mark since last Thursday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom observed a similar statewide trend during his weekly COVID-19 update Monday. Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services, said it remains to be seen whether the comparative lull is an indication that a feared surge related to the Christmas and New Year’s holiday is less fierce than expected or if it has just not arrived yet.

“We still have a few more days before we can confidently say that it isn’t as high as we had feared,” Ghaly said.

The work of thousands and thousands of health care workers, noted Chris Van Gorder, chief executive officer of Scripps Health, is also making overall hospitalization numbers look better than they really are.

“The numbers are misleading; behind them is an enormous effort to discharge patients earlier if we can do so safely because we are full,” Van Gorder said. “On Saturday, we discharged 69 patients and 11 died — otherwise our (overall) numbers would have been more than 500.

“The amount of patient turnover daily is huge.”

Health care workers, and those living or working in nursing homes, are the main subjects of the initial vaccination push because they are most intimately caught up in that daily churn of patients.

Giving shots Monday, Longhurst said he asked what kind of health care worker he was meeting each and every time one pulled up and rolled up their sleeve. He was surprised, he said, by the number of mental health workers. There were a fair number of home health workers and even a pair of veterinarians. State rules now allow veterinarians and others to get vaccinated so that they can begin helping to conduct subsequent vaccination efforts.

Hitting that 5,000-per-day target, and continuing to do so day after day, he said, will require more volunteers. UCSD staff were reallocated from other activities to kick the effort off, but keeping it going will require more help from outside the university health system, he said.

“There was definitely slack in the system, so I think we’re pretty safe to hit 5,000,” Longhurst said. “The issue is going to be staffing it every day.”

Mass inoculation is needed to reach the estimated 500,000 San Diegans representing the bulk of the local health care workforce.

When vaccine arrived in San Diego in mid-December, many health care workers couldn’t get inoculated because they weren’t affiliated with the major health systems where doses were sent. People in this predicament can make an online appointment to get vaccinated through the county’s COVID-19 vaccination page. There are six inoculation sites throughout the region, but the Petco Park station is the largest.

Cindy Tajalle and Jennifer Putman, who work at an ear, nose and throat doctor’s office in Carlsbad, showed up for their shots around 9:30 a.m. They provided identification showing that they work in health care and, after getting their shot, stayed for 15 minutes to be monitored for side effects.

Then they were on their way.

“It was very easy,” Tajalle said. “Very fast.”

A San Diego police officer on scene said that traffic was initially backed up in all directions when the site opened at 7 a.m. but smoothed out soon after.

“The first couple hours were rough because some people came in for their 10 a.m. appointments at 5 a.m.,” Longhurst added.

Some were no-shows, he added, and others had double booked appointments. Both issues, he said, are being ironed out to improve efficiency going forward.

“We learned a ton today,” he said. “We’re working on ways of making it easier for people to cancel their appointments if they need to and to spot double bookings.”

If all goes well, additional mass vaccination sites are likely to pop up in other parts of the region, county officials say, and will be used in subsequent vaccination phases.

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