Santa Clara Co. To Launch Mobile Vaccine Unit With $200K Donation

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Santa Clara County plans to launch a new mobile COVID-19 vaccine unit with the help of a $200,000 donation from Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy.

In a news release on Monday, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and other county leaders praised the energy company’s assistance and hoped that the mobile unit would increase equity in access to vaccines to Silicon Valley communities hit hardest by COVID-19.

The unit is expected to be ready for use by this summer.

“This new mobile unit will allow Santa Clara County to vaccinate the highest need members of our community by bringing the vaccine directly to them,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez in a news release.

According to a news release, Bloom Energy has aided the community during the pandemic through refurbishing ventilators, powering field hospitals and setting up a mobile testing lab at their Sunnyvale facility that can process up to 10,000 tests per day with same-day results.
Bloom Energy collected $5 donations from each test from participating local organizations to contribute toward the $200,000 donation for the mobile vaccination unit.

Michael Elliot, the Chief Operating Officer of Valley Medical Center Foundation, called the donation an important step toward the fight to end the pandemic in Santa Clara County.

“Short-term, this gives us a new tool to beat back this disease,” Elliot said. “Long-term, it strengthens our public health infrastructure so that we are better equipped for future health emergencies. This is giving at it’s best.”

For more news and information about the vaccine rollout in California, visit Patch's information hub. Also, be sure to check out How To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In California.