With expanded eligibility and 50 percent of Californians age 16 and older now having at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Governor Gavin Newsom announced partnerships with nearly 200 faith-based organizations to expand the state’s vaccine outreach and equity efforts.
The Administration is leading an effort to provide at least 25,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to pop-up clinics at these locations in the hardest-hit areas of the state, recognizing the important role places of worship have in helping to address their members’ COVID-19 vaccine concerns and providing educational resources.
Combined with the doses that have been administered through mobile clinics, the total number of doses administered to places of worship to date is more than 38,000.
Over 24 million doses have been administered in California, with 5 million doses administered in the hardest hit communities.
The Governor’s initiative builds on work by the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to help administer more than 13,500 doses across 15 mobile clinics at churches in Los Angeles and Oakland, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
This is in addition to the work being done by local health jurisdictions to set up vaccination clinics at these sites.
To date, 13 pop-up clinics at places of worship have operated in April in the Inland Empire, San Diego, Bay Area, Central Valley and Los Angeles. Additional sites are planned for the rest of the month.
Several pop-up clinics have received funding through the Together Toward Health Initiative, a $29.4 million public-private partnership with Public Health Institute. The partnership has supported more than 180 local, community-rooted organizations across California whose members serve as trusted experts for COVID-19 education, testing and vaccination access in their communities. ■
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