California plans to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination effort by transforming stadiums and Disneyland Resort into mass vaccination centers later this week, The Orange County Register reported Jan. 11. The news comes after the state reported a record 695 coronavirus deaths Jan. 9.
Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles is among the large sites to be used for vaccine distribution, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials said they plan to vaccinate up to 12,000 people per day at the stadium once the site is fully operational. The stadium is currently the country's largest testing site, though testing operations will end Jan. 18 to begin the transition to a mega vaccine site.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Petco Park in San Diego and Cal Expo in Sacramento will also be used as large-scale vaccination sites and will open later this week, with more sites to follow.
Disneyland in Anaheim will be an operational vaccination site later this week, according to CNN.
California also hopes to speed up its vaccine rollout by expanding the groups of people who can administer the vaccines to include pharmacists, dentists and nurses, among others.
According to the CDC's COVID-19 Data Tracker, more than 2.8 million vaccine doses have been shipped to the state, of which 782,638 had been administered as of Jan. 11. By the weekend, Mr. Newsom said he anticipates the number of doses administered to reach 1 million.
California is currently vaccinating high-risk healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents. The Trump Administration released new guidelines Jan.12, requiring states to immediately expand vaccine eligibility to those 65 and older as well as people under 65 with morbid conditions.
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