East Palo Alto Opens New Vaccination Site for Underserved Community

A new COVID-19 vaccination site, open two days a week, is now serving residents in East Palo Alto and the neighboring Belle Haven area of Menlo Park.

The pop-up clinic, which opened last Friday, is hosted at the Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School at 2450 Ralmar Ave. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, a partnership between the Ravenswood City School District, the city of East Palo Alto and San Mateo County.

Information about appointments is available on a week-to-week basis; residents should call the city's COVID-19 hotline for more details at 650-665-0482. There is no appointment website available.

East Palo Alto Councilmember Antonio Lopez said the site is not yet permanent, but is "ongoing," and the city is optimistic they can use the site with "greater frequency and cadence."

"This is the essential worker of Silicon Valley," Lopez said. "These are the communities that are sacrificing themselves every single day to be the backbone of this economy, the salt of the earth. We have to give back to them."

The city and surrounding area have some of the lowest vaccination rates and highest rates of coronavirus infection in San Mateo County. Only 27.5% of East Palo Alto's population is vaccinated compared to 44.9% countywide, according to county data.

Lopez said he believes many residents living in the area's mostly lower-income, multiethnic community either don't know they are eligible for the vaccine, are unsure about its safety or have found it challenging to take time off from work or caretaking responsibilities to go to sites farther away.

The site will reportedly administer the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which only requires a single dose; it's the first time that vaccine will be administered in the county. The facility will serve up to 500 people each day.

"Without overstatement, this permanent vaccine site will be a life-changer for our residents, many undocumented and without access to health care," Lopez said in a statement. "Not only will we be ensuring the safety of our residents through this site; we will empower them to return to work, to school, and in a word, to some semblance of normal."

— Sara Hossaini and Bay City News