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City Of LA Opens New Vaccination Site At USC
USC Downey Way Entrance. Chava Sanchez/ LAist
USC's campus will soon serve as the newest city-run vaccination site. The site is located at the corner of Exposition and Figueroa, right next to the University Park campus and the Expo Park Metro Station.
The site will take those with appointments via car or foot and accommodate patients who require additional access services. Officials will also send mobile clinics from the site into some of the areas hit hardest by the pandemic.
At his COVID-19 briefing yesterday, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said it's all part of the city's focus on equity, which has been a big issue of late:
"Our push for equity [has] led us to putting mass vaccination centers closer to communities in greatest need."
Garcetti said the site will be able to administer 5,000 doses of the vaccine per day once it ramps up to full capacity. Vaccine supplies will be limited at first, he said, but more shipments of doses will be headed for L.A. in the coming weeks.
The mayor said a new initiative with Uber will help South L.A. residents without access to transportation get to the USC site. Uber will provide 15,000 free rides to the site and 20,000 rides will at half-off normal rates.
The mayor also announced a new program called the Dependent Homebound Population Vaccination Initiative, that will coordinate delivering and administering vaccines directly to L.A. residents who are homebound due to chronic disease, disability, or other reasons.
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It's a partnership between the Department of Public Health and the city’s Department of Disability.
The program aims to vaccinate 300 homebound seniors next week and eventually reach Angelenos living in public housing, senior centers, and long-term facilities.
You can watch Garcetti's full coronavirus briefing here:
Join me live for the latest COVID-19 updates as our city keeps ramping up our efforts to distribute vaccines, expand access to life-saving doses, and end the pandemic. https://t.co/CGf2WAMgao
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) March 5, 2021
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