A line at the Berkeley mass vaccination site in Albany’s Golden Gate Fields, which is being run by Berkeley in partnership with Curative. Photo: Supriya Yelimeli
After several weeks of calling doctors, waiting on endless holds and researching the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in California, hundreds of senior Berkeleyans woke up Thursday morning to unexpected news the Berkeley mass vaccination site was open one day ahead of schedule, and local residents 75 and above could book an appointment the same day.
Check the Curative site for open appointments if you’re 75 or older, or in tier 1A. Read our vaccine guide for updated information.
Alta Bates Hospital workers in Berkeley will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccine Saturday
Update, 4:44 p.m.: Alta Bates received the shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines Friday and will begin vaccinating its workers on Saturday, Sutter spokesperson Monique Binkley Smith confirmed.
Original story: Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley will receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the week, a few days after several Bay Area hospitals started inoculating essential workers.
The vaccine was approved but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11 and it almost immediately shipments began going out to regions across the country.
Ryan Stice, vice president of pharmacy at Sutter Health, which owns Alta Bates, said during a news conference on Monday that hospitals would be ready to begin administering the vaccine “within hours” of receiving the shipment. There is a two-to-three day variance expected between each health department’s shipment, he added.