A drive-thru clinic at Sacramento City College on Saturday reached hundreds in need of their COVID-19 vaccines.It’s the second of many community clinics planned for the weeks and months to come, through which Sacramento County will enlist the help and expertise of health care workers from Dignity Health and UC Davis Health to administer vaccine doses to people who pre-registered.Clinicians provided nearly 1,500 vaccinations to people organizers said were among vulnerable community groups.“Didn’t hurt at all… I’m not crying!” said Tom Rush who captured a cellphone video of the exact moment he received his Moderna COVID-19 vaccination. “I’m gonna send it to my kids, send it to my family.”Others lined up for their shots, expressing relief to have finally reached this day.“I’m great. Fine, you know, happy that I have it,” said Paquita Mendoza.“I’m hoping by this summer most people will be able to have the vaccines,” said Cathleen Madge. “I hope so, because I have a trip planned.”Helen Sharma received her dose and said she felt more relaxed. “I was a little bit more concerned before, but now I’m OK,” she explained.Sharma’s daughter, Kavita Sharma, a health care provider who’s already received her COVID-19 vaccination, noted that Saturday’s clinic flowed well. Volunteers gave vaccine doses to people as they sat in their cars, and then had them stay on-site to be monitored for 15 minutes following their shots. “It’s just amazing how well-organized this has been,” she said. “It was just a great experience.”Dignity Health said it plans to hold community clinics every week going forward for the next several months.The system in place at the Sacramento City College clinic is one that organizers say could easily handle several thousand people in a given day. Getting that many doses to administer at one time, however, is something they’re hoping to have the ability to do very soon.“As the supply of vaccine increases, we’ll be able to increase the number of people who are served every day,” said Chris Champlin, chief strategy officer for Dignity Health’s Sacramento division.Champlin told KCRA 3 that it feels fantastic to be reaching this many people in the community and that vaccine dose recipients are happy to be getting it.“I had one person say, ‘It’s better than Disneyland. This is the happiest place on earth today.’”Dignity Health says it’s working directly with school districts to prioritize the vaccination of certain educators starting next week.It will administer doses for Sacramento City Unified School District on Friday and San Juan Unified School District.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A drive-thru clinic at Sacramento City College on Saturday reached hundreds in need of their COVID-19 vaccines.
It’s the second of many community clinics planned for the weeks and months to come, through which Sacramento County will enlist the help and expertise of health care workers from Dignity Health and UC Davis Health to administer vaccine doses to people who pre-registered.
Clinicians provided nearly 1,500 vaccinations to people organizers said were among vulnerable community groups.
“Didn’t hurt at all… I’m not crying!” said Tom Rush who captured a cellphone video of the exact moment he received his Moderna COVID-19 vaccination. “I’m gonna send it to my kids, send it to my family.”
Others lined up for their shots, expressing relief to have finally reached this day.
“I’m great. Fine, you know, happy that I have it,” said Paquita Mendoza.
“I’m hoping by this summer most people will be able to have the vaccines,” said Cathleen Madge. “I hope so, because I have a trip planned.”
Helen Sharma received her dose and said she felt more relaxed. “I was a little bit more concerned before, but now I’m OK,” she explained.
Sharma’s daughter, Kavita Sharma, a health care provider who’s already received her COVID-19 vaccination, noted that Saturday’s clinic flowed well. Volunteers gave vaccine doses to people as they sat in their cars, and then had them stay on-site to be monitored for 15 minutes following their shots. “It’s just amazing how well-organized this has been,” she said. “It was just a great experience.”
Dignity Health said it plans to hold community clinics every week going forward for the next several months.
The system in place at the Sacramento City College clinic is one that organizers say could easily handle several thousand people in a given day. Getting that many doses to administer at one time, however, is something they’re hoping to have the ability to do very soon.
“As the supply of vaccine increases, we’ll be able to increase the number of people who are served every day,” said Chris Champlin, chief strategy officer for Dignity Health’s Sacramento division.
Champlin told KCRA 3 that it feels fantastic to be reaching this many people in the community and that vaccine dose recipients are happy to be getting it.
“I had one person say, ‘It’s better than Disneyland. This is the happiest place on earth today.’”
Dignity Health says it’s working directly with school districts to prioritize the vaccination of certain educators starting next week.
It will administer doses for Sacramento City Unified School District on Friday and San Juan Unified School District.