Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Newsom Says He's 'Struggling' to Get a FEMA Mass Vaccination Site in the Central Valley
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 3 years ago on
March 11, 2021

Share

The behind the scenes lobbying effort to get a FEMA mass vaccination site in the Central Valley hasn’t garnered fruit, at least not yet.

California quickly received two of the federally supported sites in Oakland and Los Angeles last month. Gov. Gavin Newsom, visiting a vaccination site in Earlimart this week, said interstate rivalry may be preventing the state from getting another site.

“Other states, I’ll be honest with you, were a little upset that California was the first to get not one — but two large scale vaccination sites,” said Newsom. “Until the other states start to get more equitably their vaccination sites, we’re struggling to get that third site here in the Valley.”

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, has a spot in mind for it. He told GV Wire℠ in early February that the large parking lot at Fresno State’s Save Mart Center makes it a viable location for bringing in large numbers of people for COVID-19 vaccinations. Costa believes the site and two mobile units could ultimately administer a total of 7,000 vaccines daily.

During a Wednesday online news conference, Costa says he has had another conversation with the White House about activating a Central Valley site.

“Fresno County is a county of a million people, and we have neighboring counties that need additional support as well,” said Costa. “So this FEMA site would benefit multiple counties in the area.”

Official U.S. House portrait of Rep. Jim Costa

“Fresno County is a county of a million people, and we have neighboring counties that need additional support as well. So this FEMA site would benefit multiple counties in the area.”Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno

Costa says he’s also spoken with Vice President Kamala Harris and believes the Valley will ultimately be receive one. “Hopefully sooner rather than later,” says Costa.

80% Vaccination Goal For Valley

Costa says he wants to see 80% of Valley residents vaccinated by the end of May.

“We need the additional capacity that a FEMA site would provide, and we’re working on it,” he said.

FEMA in Other States

On March 3, FEMA announced the following sites had just opened:

  • Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, Florida.
  • Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Yonkers, New York.

Additional centers are opening this week in Chicago and Greensboro, North Carolina.

FEMA has now deployed 1,992 staff across the nation to support the vaccination effort. Department of Defense vaccine support teams are in California, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Additional teams are scheduled to arrive in Florida, Pennsylvania and the U.S. Virgin Islands this week.

“Other states, I’ll be honest with you, were a little upset that California was the first to get not one — but two large scale vaccination sites.”Governor Gavin Newsom

Is It Getting Too Late for a Central Valley Site To Help?

GV Wire℠ asked Fresno County Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra if it’s getting to be too late for a FEMA site to come online. Just this week, Fresno County received its highest allocation of vaccine doses to date.

“We’re not ready to give up yet,” said Vohra. “I think it will still definitely help.”

Vohra says even with this week’s higher allotment, based on county calculations related to how many vaccines per week they need to deliver, that goal has not yet been met.

“Whatever resource, whether that’s a FEMA site or just just a bunch of vaccines that that we need to allocate to other sites, we will take them because we know we haven’t met (our) goal yet,” said Vohra.

Fresno County Community Health Division Manager Joe Prado is engineering the county’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He believes the Valley is primed for a FEMA site.

“Whether it comes next month, or two months later, regardless of when it arrives, that’s going to be additional doses, additional people getting vaccinated in the Central Valley,” said Prado.

[activecampaign form=25]

DON'T MISS

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

DON'T MISS

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

DON'T MISS

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

DON'T MISS

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

DON'T MISS

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

DON'T MISS

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

No data was found

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

14 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

14 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

14 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

14 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

15 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

15 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

15 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

16 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

19 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

19 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

PGA HOPE, now underway at Fresno’s Riverside Golf Course, is designed to introduce golf to veterans and active duty military members t...

12 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Fresno's Riverside Golf Course
12 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

13 hours ago

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

14 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

14 hours ago

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

14 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

14 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

14 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

15 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend