Alvarado Hospital, working with the County of San Diego, will send teams out to vaccinate home-bound people who, for whatever reason, cannot travel to remote vaccination sites. San Diego County has identified patients in need and staff from Alvarado hospital have followed up with each with a telephone call. Joie Trautman, Alvarado Vaccine Clinic Director, explains, “We offered to come to their homes to vaccinate them and verified with each which vaccine they preferred. Offering these patients the option of having vaccine brought to them decreases risk factors and brings them peace of mind.”
Since January Alvarado Hospital has been working diligently to vaccinate as many people in the community as possible. The hospital has been partnering with local community organizations and San Diego County to hold COVID-19 vaccination clinics at the hospital campus and remote locations throughout central and East San Diego to reach vulnerable populations where they are.
“COVID-19 is a tenacious enemy that we’ve all been fighting for over a year now,” says Alvarado Hospital CEO Robin Gomez. “These vaccines have been created with new, exciting technology, and it’s taken a national and international effort to create and distribute them. They’re wonderful tools, but we need to vaccinate as many people as we can for them to work the way that they’re designed to.”
Gomez went on to explain that many people who need the vaccine the most may not have the means to travel to central locations to obtain vaccine. Seniors, for example, may find it difficult to reach one of the vaccination super-sites around San Diego county. “Our clinics aren’t meant to replace the super-sites,” Gomez adds. “We’re meant to complement them. In this case, we’re bringing Mohammad to the mountain.”
In March and April alone the Alvarado Hospital Vaccination Team has given over 5,000 vaccination shots, with an eye towards reaching the goal set by the County of vaccinating 2 million San Diegans. In addition to holding clinics on-campus, the hospital has held clinics at the La Mesa/Spring Valley School District, Santee School District, San Diego Catholic Diocese, San Diego Lutheran Diocese, and Jewish Family Services to name just a few.
Those wishing to reserve an appointment to receive a vaccination shot should speak to their physician or healthcare provider. If that’s not an option, visit the MyTurn website to make an appointment (MyTurn.ca.gov). The San Diego Health and Human Services website also has resources you can use. You can also visit the Alvarado Hospital website for information about COVID-19 and the vaccines.