Over the next two weeks, San Francisco intends to vaccinate as many as 1,000 seniors and other eligible community members who live in Chinatown, city officials announced Friday.
As part of the city’s broader effort to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to communities that have been disproportionately affected by the virus, city health officials plan to set up a mobile vaccination station at Ping Yuen, the neighborhood's largest affordable housing facility, on April 2 and April 9.
“From the very beginning, our vaccine distribution has been focused on reaching our communities that have been hit hardest,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “We know that means meeting people where they are and making vaccines not only available, but also easy to access.”
Since its launch in mid-February, the city’s mobile vaccination program has administered more than 2,000 vaccines to residents in the Bayview, Tenderloin, Excelsior, Mission, Chinatown and Western Addition neighborhoods, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Health officials are also planning some 30 additional mobile vaccination events — including the one in Chinatown — over the next three weeks, and say they are working closely with community partners to notify and make appointments for the highest-risk populations.
“We’ve been using this mobile care model for many years to serve vulnerable populations and now we are applying these practices to administering the COVID-19 vaccines,” said Grant Colfax, San Francisco's director of public health.