A shot of comfort
Adventist Health opens mass vaccination site as shots become available to anyone 16 and over
When he heard a COVID-19 vaccine would be available to everyone, Stockton resident Chris Domingo couldn’t wait to register.
Unfortunately, he was one of many that was going to have to wait until the California Department of Health and San Joaquin County Public Health Services permitted vaccine doses to all residents older than 16.
“I’ve been waiting about a month to get the shot since I heard it was available,” he said. “Just watching everybody else get theirs, and the anticipation. When am I going to get mine, when is it available?”
The wait was over, Thursday, as Domingo was one of several county residents who were able to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial’s mass vaccination site at Hutchins Street Square.
Domingo said his girlfriend made the appointment for him, and the Hutchins Street Square site appeared to be the closest to his home.
“All of a sudden, she got hers two or three days ago, now I got mine,” he said. “It’s comforting to know that one of these days we’re going to be fully recovered from this pandemic. We just want to get rid of the masks and go to the movie theaters.”
Lodi Memorial teamed up with Blue Cross/Blue
“I’ve been waiting about a month to get the shot since I heard it was available. Just watching everybody else get theirs, and the anticipation. When am I going to get mine, when is it available? ... It’s comforting to know that one of these days we’re going to be fully recovered from this pandemic. We just want to get rid of the masks and go to the movie theaters.”
CHRIS DOMINGO, STOCKTON
Shield to bring the mass vaccination site to Hutchins Street Square, and the organizations are hoping to administer as many as 7,000 doses a week, depending on availability.
Vaccinations will be available by appointment only while supplies are available, and walk-ins will not be accommodated. To schedule an appointment, visit myturn.ca.gov.
The COVID-19 Vaccination Hub at the Square will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Patients will enter the building from Oak Street, sign in and then register at a second station. After registration, they are escorted to vaccination stations where nurses will screen them for symptoms and health history.
Once they receive their shots, they are escorted to Kirst Hall for the 15minute monitoring stage, which accommodates more than 100 patients who receive a dose.
Area residents who can’t make it to Hutchins Street Square during that time can instead head to the new mass vaccination site at the Stockton Arena, a joint effort by San Joaquin County Public Health Services and Kaiser Permanente. That site has the capacity to administer as many as 5,400 vaccines daily, also depending on supplies. Vaccinations are available by appointment only, seven days a week, and can be scheduled at myturn.ca.gov.
According to county public health, 149,210 residents had been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, while 83,453 have only received their first dose.
On Thursday, 56 patients with COVID-19 were in seven hospitals throughout the county, of which 13 were in an intensive care unit. Those number have not changed since the beginning of the week.
Lodi Memorial had seven COVID-19 patients in the hospital Thursday, including two in the ICU.
There have been a total of 71,338 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,334 deaths since pandemic began.
Lodi’s two ZIP codes have seen 6,783 confirmed cases and 182 deaths due to COVID-19.