The Oakland Coliseum coronavirus vaccination site opened Tuesday with the capacity to administer some 3,000 doses per day, according to state and federal officials.
The Coliseum site, operated in partnership between the state’s Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense, is part of the federal government’s effort to open 100 mass vaccination sites in President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office.
State and federal officials also plan to deploy a pair of mobile vaccination clinics in addition to the Coliseum site. By the end of the week, the site will have the capacity to administer up to 6,000 doses per day.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking Tuesday at the opening of a similar mass vaccination site in Los Angeles, said some 6.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in California to date.
“There are only seven jurisdictions in the world that have administered more doses of the vaccine than the state of California,” he said.
Newsom has argued repeatedly that the state’s vaccination effort would be even further along if the local public health departments and health care entities administering vaccines had more doses available.
The two-dose nature of the vaccines currently available from pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotechnology company Moderna further hampers supply, Newsom and local health officials have reiterated.
A third vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, which requires only one dose, is expected to become available this spring.
For now, roughly 201,000 doses are being administered statewide per day, according to Newsom, who added that 1.28 million vaccine doses are expected to be delivered in the state this week, followed by 1.31 million doses next week.
“We’re building the infrastructure where the only constraint is supply,” Newsom said. “When the supply is ample, then we’re able to move aggressively and quickly.”
Registration for vaccinations at the Coliseum site can be made by eligible residents through the state’s MyTurn website, https://myturn.ca.gov, or by calling (833) 422-4255.