The White House announced Wednesday morning it is opening two mass vaccination sites in California: one at the Oakland Coliseum and another on the CSU Los Angeles campus.
The sites are a partnership between FEMA and California's emergency response agency, Cal OES, but will be staffed primarily by a federal workforce from FEMA, the Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. FEMA will also provide resources and operational support.
Following the federal announcement, Alameda County officials unveiled plans to begin Phase 1B of the county's vaccine distribution efforts in various neighborhoods next week, impacting people ages 65 and older, essential workers in food and agriculture, emergency services, and the education and childcare sectors.
Phase 1B encompasses an estimated 325,000 Alameda County residents.
The Coliseum site is expected to open February 16.
"This additional resource and infusion of vaccine is much needed in our community and will help us to reach more people more quickly," said Colleen Chawla, director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency.
Jeff Zients, COVID-19 response coordinator for the Biden administration, said the two locations were chosen because they are "two of the communities most hard hit by the pandemic."
Zients remarked that the Coliseum is "adjacent to the communities of Eastmont and Elmhurst, which have some of the lowest health scores in the state," while CSU LA on the city's east side serves a large Latino population.
Oakland City Councilmember-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan said the Coliseum is well situated to target essential workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
"As we’ve seen in the news in the last few days, there’s been a dramatic racial disparity in terms of African American communities and Latino communities being hardest hit and not getting adequate access to the vaccine," said Kaplan. "And so that’s why I and some of my colleagues have been fighting to get the Coliseum site open to be able to serve a lot more people."
The sites are part of the Biden administration's effort to launch 100 new vaccination sites - big and small - in its first 100 days.
Cal OES added preparations are underway and the sites are expected to open by Feb. 16. People will be able to sign up for appointments through the state's MyTurn scheduling system soon, although an exact date has not been given.
The Coliseum site will administer at least 6,000 doses a day, seven days a week. OES officials said the state is working with FEMA to ensure that large volume of doses given at the sites does not drain supply from Alameda and LA counties.
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