With the number of COVID-19 cases down significantly in San Francisco and 81 percent of residents having received at least their first dose of the vaccine, city officials said Thursday that they will close their last two high-volume vaccination sites.
The site at City College of San Francisco is set to close on Saturday while the Moscone Center South site will close on July 14.
Two weeks ago, the city also closed the high-volume vaccination site at SF Market in the city’s Bayview District.
Despite the closures, vaccine doses will continue to be available for those who still haven’t received theirs yet at several health clinics, pharmacies, and neighborhood and mobile sites.
“Mass vaccination sites were an important part of the distribution network that made that possible, but we’re now at a point where vaccines continue to be widely available and we’re instead focusing on getting to residents who are harder to reach or may have challenges getting to one of our many vaccination sites,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
“Being the first major city in the nation to reach over 80 percent of eligible residents with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is a testament to the hard work of our residents, community partners, and public health professionals who stood up sites like City College,” San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said.
The high-volume sites, which were first implemented in January and February, have proven effective in reducing case numbers and hospitalizations, with the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases declining 97 percent from 373 cases in January to just 10 as of last week.
Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 also hit their lowest numbers this month for the first time since the pandemic began, city officials said.
“San Francisco was in a very different place in January when City College opened up as the city’s first mass vaccine site during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll said. “Today, the majority of eligible San Franciscans have received vaccinations because of our ability to quickly and efficiently open sites across the city.”
For more information about the vaccine and sites, residents can call (628) 652-2700 or visit https://sfgov/getvaccinated.