Benicia hosts COVID-19 vaccine clinic for seniors amid high demand for shot

BENICIA, Calif. (KGO) -- The city of Benicia held a COVID-19 vaccine clinic Tuesday for 1,400 residents over the age of 75.

The clinic was announced online Friday afternoon and all 1,400 appointments were booked by midday Saturday. The waitlist has 250 people.

RELATED: At current supply rate, it would take Kaiser 4+ years to get enough vaccines for all CA patients

"Today is my birthday, and I feel this is the best gift I could get," said Idalia Tearney as she headed in to get her shot Tuesday.

She and her girlfriends hope this will be the beginning of the end of their pandemic isolation.

"I will be able to socialize! By the time I get my second vaccination, I can see my grandchildren and daughter and son-in-law. That's what is going to be terrific about it," said Rebecca Mullin.

"Well I am a real touchy-feely person, and it is killing me to stay the distance," Tearney said.

The demand is high but these clinics are not easy to pull together.

VACCINE TRACKER: Here's how CA is doing, when you can get a coronavirus vaccine

"This is a coordinated effort between the city of Benicia, Solano County Public Health, Kaiser Permanente... our fire chief and city manager worked really hard to have Benicia host this event for our most vulnerable," said Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani.

That's just one clinic in the Bay Area serving 1,400 people. And they have to host all 1,400 people again in 28 days for their second dose. But it's not a matter of if they can or want to -- officials say they would love to offer more of these, and hope too. The issue is getting their hands on more doses.

When asked if he's heard what the chances of getting more are, Giuliani replied, "No. Not at this point. This wasn't even approved until late last week. We pulled this off in about five days."

He says they are collecting information about the people on the waitlist so they can reach out to them if they get more doses.

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