SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County will partner with employers, business chambers and other groups to help host large-scale vaccination events by providing vaccines and medical personnel to administer them, it was announced Friday.
Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher, with leaders from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, made the announcement from the San Diego Mission Bay Resort.
"This new initiative to partner with employers and chambers who want to host large vaccination events is one of the many adjustments we are making to our vaccination program to make it easier for people to get the vaccine," Fletcher said. "The best way to restore our economy and put San Diego on a path to recovery is for everyone to get the vaccine."
Any entity capable of coordinating a large vaccination event can visit coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine, click on the "Host a Vaccination Event" button, fill out the form, and a county team member will follow up. A large event is considered to be hundreds, if not thousands of participants.
The Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce has successfully organized five events since March with key employers in that area, with the smallest event involving about 800 participants and the largest with more than 2,200.
"The unique advantage to having vaccinations on-site for large employees is that workers only take a few minutes to get vaccinated and then go back to work," said Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber. "We never thought at the chamber we would be engaged in vaccinations, but this pandemic has shown us that we all need to be flexible, creative and have empathy."
Earlier this year, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce began "Time to Vaccinate" an education and awareness campaign sponsored by SDG&E and Cox. The program provides employers with resources and information to encourage their workforce to get vaccinated. Nearly 70 businesses from across the region have already taken the pledge.
"A full San Diego recovery depends on all of us working together to make sure that everyone who wants a vaccine can get one as quickly and efficiently as possible," said Jerry Sanders, the chamber's president and CEO. "Our `Time to Vaccinate' program provides businesses a path to make a positive difference in our collective fight against COVID-19."
The San Diego Mission Bay Resort, which hosted Friday morning's news conference, has taken the San Diego Chamber's Time of Vaccinate pledge and was represented at the event by two employees, Rosalba Ponce, a housekeeping coordinator, and Ignacio Sanchez, a restaurant worker.