County shifting resources to Dodger Stadium vaccination site
By Sam Catanzaro
Local officials have ended COVID-19 testing at Jackie Robinson Stadium to focus efforts on vaccine distribution, now available to all residents aged 65 or older.
Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that COVID-19 testing operations at Jackie Robinson Stadium and Dodger Stadium have ended end, as the city has transitioned the MLB stadium’s parking lot into a mass vaccination center. Authorities decided to shift testing away from Dodger Stadium and Jackie Robinson Stadium so public health officials can immediately focus personnel, equipment, and other resources on vaccination distribution.
The Dodger Stadium site will be able to vaccinate up to 12,000 people per day when it is fully up and running, according to Garcetti.
“This shift in resources will temporarily reduce testing capacity in L.A. County, but it will more than triple the number of daily vaccines available to be dispersed to Angelenos. The City remains committed to providing free testing to residents, with or without symptoms, at eight permanent sites and six mobile sites across L.A..” Garcetti said, adding the move decreased the city’s testing capacity from more than 40,000 to around 27,000 tests per day.
Anyone seeking a test can find more information at coronavirus.lacity.org/testing or should contact their health care provider.
As of the time of publishing, there are no vaccines being administered at Jackie Robinson Stadium, although Los Angeles Magazine has reported this is a possibility.
There are also six new County-operated centers, including at California State University, Northridge and the Forum in Inglewood. These large-scale vaccination sites will be able to vaccinate approximately 4,000 people per day at each site.
On Tuesday the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced all residents who are 65 years old and older are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.
Residents in this high-priority age group may receive a communication from their health care provider with information about COVID-19 vaccinations and how to receive one. They can also visit VaccinateLACounty.com to schedule an appointment for vaccination. For those without access to a computer or the internet, a call center will be open to help schedule appointments at 833-540-0473, daily from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
