Thousands get vaccinated as Alameda County expands eligibility to everyone 16+

ByLuz Pena KGO logo

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Thousands get vaccinated as Alameda Co. expands eligibility

Alameda County got ahead of the state and opened vaccines for those 16 and older - Thousands showed up to the Oakland Coliseum supersite to get their shots.

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- We are only four days away from the statewide vaccine expansion for those 16 and older. Monday, Alameda County got ahead of the state and opened vaccines for everyone who's been approved to be vaccinated.

The Oakland Coliseum's supersite expected to vaccinate 5,000 people Monday, the first day that Alameda County is opening up vaccine eligibility to those 16 and older.

The news spread fast and 16-year-old Brallant O'Connor's mom booked him an appointment for this afternoon.

"She was able to book it pretty quick, which is awesome because I don't want to get sick," said O'connor.

Colleen Chawla, Alameda County's Health Care Services Agency Director, was anticipating this influx and says what they need is supply.

"There isn't enough vaccine supply. I think that is a challenge we are all facing," said Chawla.

"People in the interim time, I think are going to have to be patient. We ask people to be patient and register with the site so that we can contact you when more vaccine supply becomes available," she said.

VIDEO: Thousands turned away at SF vaccine clinic due to overwhelming demand

Thousands of people showed up for a vaccine clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Saturday. About 4,000 of them were turned away as demand heavily outweighed the supply.

Hundreds lined up outside of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSGH), hoping to get one of 2,000 vaccine doses available for residents who live in one of the county's seven hardest-hit neighborhoods. Some were comparing the long lines to Black Friday, but with one obvious, major difference: they're hoping to get vaccinated and not buy TV's.

"We knew that there would be demand when we opened up. I don't know if we knew it would that high. But it just shows that people really want to be vaccinated which is exciting. Now our goal is to as soon as we can get more vaccine, to deliver those doses," said Dr. Naveena Bobba, SFDPH Deputy Director.

Over the weekend 4,000 walk-ins were turned away at the ZSGH site. But SFDPH's deputy director is hopeful that as April 15th approaches access will expand.

"It's not just certain sites. So, even though we will see increase in demand, luckily we will have more providers being able to provide injections and vaccines," said Dr. Bobba.

57% of San Franciscans have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Based on the numbers, come April 15, more than 330,000 people in San Francisco will automatically qualify to get vaccinated.

This week, San Francisco County only received 10,000 doses. SFDPH is asking residents to be patient and know that there will be enough vaccine for everyone in the upcoming weeks, just not by Thursday.

As the day approaches, some are wondering if they'll be able to get vaccinated out of county.

According to California's COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, anyone will be able to search for appointments on the state's My Turn website and book appointments outside of their county. But counties can still block appointments from going to people who are not locals. If your county doesn't have enough shots, you can book somewhere else, but keep in mind that wherever you get your first shot is where you should go back to get your second.

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