Mobile clinics to roll; schools may reopen

COVID-19: Vans will be deployed this weekend to homebound residents, high caseload areas

Long Beach will roll out two new mobile vehicles this weekend to administer vaccinations to residents who are homebound and who live in neighborhoods that have the highest coronavirus case rates.

“We’re committed to making the vaccines available to everyone who lives or works in Long Beach and wants them,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in statement earlier this week. “Our new mobile vaccination vans will enhance our outreach efforts to keep our homebound residents, seniors and atrisk individuals safe.”

Each unit has vaccines, storage units, tables, chairs and hand-washing stations. Mobile Vaccination Team One will be deployed to homebound individuals unable to make the trek to a vaccine site; Mobile Vaccination Team Two will provide clinics in high-case rate neighborhoods throughout the city.

“Vaccinations add another layer of protection against COVID-19,” Health and Human Services Director Kelly Colopy said in a statement. “And our new vehicles will maximize our mobile teams’ ability to administer vaccines in the communities where they’re needed most.”

Each week, Mobile Vaccination Team Two will work with community organizations to conduct community outreach in advance of the clinic’s arrival. The mobile unit will administer up to 300 vaccines each day.

Residents interested in requesting a home appointment must complete a request form or call 562570-4636 for assistance.

BRITTANY MURRAY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Angel Mikaele, a fifth-grade teacher at Dooley Elementary School in Long Beach, teaches her students remotely from an empty classroom in September. After a year of distance learning, the state is pressing for the reopening of schools.

CITY OF LONG BEACH One of Long Beach’s two new vaccination mobile vehicles that will be deployed this weekend. One van will serve individuals unable to attend an in-person vaccination site. The other will serve neighborhoods with high positive COVID-19 rates.