San Mateo County Reopens Mass Vaccination Site With Supply Up

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County is reopening a mass vaccination site at the San Mateo County Event Center on Thursday and plans to hold two to three hold mass vaccination events a week for community members as vaccine supply has increased.

The event center, along with San Francisco International Airport, had served as a mass vaccination site earlier in the rollout, but those operations stopped due to limited supply and the county’s decision to focus on targeted, smaller vaccine clinics. County officials had complained as recently as last week about the lack of supply.

But the county has been receiving more supply from the state, and County Manager Mike Callagy said in a Tuesday news release that optimism is on the horizon.

“Very soon we believe we will have enough vaccine for everyone who wants it, and we hope that is everyone in this county,” Callagy said. “The reopening of our mass vaccination site this week and continuing to provide doses to our community-based clinics in our most vulnerable neighborhoods means we can get more shots in more arms.”

The event center, which is drive-through only, can administer approximately 4,000 doses a day, according to the county. The county will also continue to offer targeted vaccine clinics for communities in North Fair Oaks, East Palo Alto, San Mateo, Daly City, El Granada and Half Moon Bay.

In a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Dr. Anand Chabra, San Mateo County Health COVID-19 mass vaccination section chief, said Blue Shield projects the county's vaccine supply could triple by the end of June.

"Those projections are helpful," Chabra said. "Even though we recognize they can always change, at least it gives us something to work with in terms of planning."

As of Monday, nearly 70 percent of eligible residents in the county had been vaccinated.

Click here for more information on vaccinations in San Mateo County.

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.