Santa Cruz County partners with Safeway to advance through Phase 1a

No locations, dates offered in first announcement

SANTA CRUZ >> The County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency announced Wednesday afternoon that it is partnering with local Safeway locations to assist in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to frontline health care workers, a group that includes 14,700 frontline workers in the county.

According to a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Safeway has committed to working with the county to coordinate mass vaccination clinics by providing scheduling and vaccination support. This will help to accommodate up to 500 individuals per day at a location that is not yet being announced. No date for mass vaccination clinics has been mentioned to date either.

The vaccinations will begin with health care workers, which the county deems a “key step” to wider vaccine distributions to local residents.

“While supplies remain highly limited, the county is committed to the equitable distribution of vaccines in accordance with state and federal guidelines,” the agency included in a prepared statement.

Health Services Agency Director Mimi Hall said the goal is to distribute vaccine supplies as quickly as possible, and local partnerships with health care providers like Safeway pharmacies will help meet that goal.

“Ending this pandemic will take our entire community working together, and we are grateful for the partnerships we have as well as those we will form in the coming weeks and months,” Hall said.

To further the movement to speed up the vaccination process, the county has provided more than 1,200 doses to be distributed to four local Safeway stores for specific populations eligible to receive the vaccine immediately, the statement relays.

“These points of distribution are not open to the general public, and eligible populations will be contacted directly,” the agency said.

The county will continue to explore expanding its vaccination network through partnerships such as this one, in addition to seeking help from EMTs, dental offices and more, it said in the statement. The Emergency Operations

Center has been activated to help with logistics for future mass vaccination sites.

“Mass vaccination clinics are a key component of the county’s vaccine distribution plan,” it said.

Safeway hinted at the partnership Jan. 13 when spokeswoman Wendy Gutshall confirmed to the Sentinel that the corporation was in touch with Santa Cruz County health officials to help administer the vaccine to eligible Phase 1a individuals.

“The vaccine will be administered free of charge,” Gutshall said at the time. “For questions about the timing for subsequent phases, I would encourage you to reach out to the County.”

That afternoon, Health Services Agency spokeswoman Corinne Hyland said she hadn’t heard anything about the partnership.