S.F. to close community COVID vaccination sites
San Francisco will close its remaining community COVID-19 vaccination sites next month.
The city’s health department, citing a lack of funding and demand, confirmed on Thursday that it will permanently cease giving shots at the six remaining neighborhood health centers in mid-February.
“Throughout the last four years, we received state and federal funding that allowed us to innovate and make San Francisco a model for mounting a response to COVID-19,” said Asa King, deputy director of community health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “We led the way in terms of having low deaths.”
However, the lapse in funding has affected the city’s ability to provide services as before.
San Francisco ended its COVID public health emergency on Feb. 28, 2023, aligning with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lifting of California’s public health emergency. But it was the end of the federal state of emergency on May 11 that did the most to shift COVID-19 response and resources to the commercial market.
While the six sites in lowincome neighborhoods will cease vaccination services, including for influenza, some will continue to offer other essential health services. Mission Local first reported news of the closures.
King noted a significant decline in vaccine demand at these sites, emphasizing that most individuals now have access to shots through their primary care providers or chain pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS.
Approximately 27% of the city’s residents have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, targeting newer variants, compared to the 70% vaccination rate for the original shots in 2021.
“Our message to the public remains the same as it has since we first had access to vaccines,” King said. “Go out and take advantage of getting up to date on the COVID vaccine. We want to make it very clear that it is people’s first line of defense against winding up with severe illness or hospitalization from COVID-19.”
For those facing difficulty accessing shots, free options remain available through the federal website, vaccines.gov. The Bridge Access Program covers vaccination costs for the underinsured or uninsured.
The city’s health department will collaborate with community partners to provide vaccine doses and continue mobile vaccination services at neighborhood events until midMarch.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has administered around 300,000 vaccinations at the sites set to be closed. King emphasized, “Our response to COVID has not ended. This has been a tremendous effort and one that continues.”