As Vaccine Eligibility Expands Statewide, California Partners with Nearly 200 Places of Worship to Ramp Up Equity-Centered Outreach
Governor Newsom visits pop-up clinic in San Bernardino at the Sixteenth Street Seventh-day Adventist Church this month
In total, more than 38,000 vaccine doses provided to faith-based organizations
13 pop-up clinics have opened in April to date, additional sites opening every weekend
A day after expanding vaccine eligibility, California today achieved a new milestone with 50 percent of Californians age 16 and older now having at least one dose
SACRAMENTO – 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 today 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.
“Our partnerships with community-based organizations and faith leaders are the reason why folks throughout California, no matter what zip code they live in, have access to vaccines – especially in those communities hardest hit by this pandemic,” said Governor Newsom. “We moved quickly to allocate 40 percent of our vaccine supply for those communities most impacted by this pandemic, and we’ll continue to lean on these community-based partnerships to further educate Californians about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.”
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.