SAN ANTONIO – More than 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered on the opening day of the Alamodome mass vaccination site Monday.
San Antonio officials say they are more than confident the vaccination site will administer 9,000 vaccines by the end of the day Saturday.
City officials were provided a tour of how the vaccination site will function.
Patients will park and get their temperature checked before entering the building. Once inside, they will take a few minutes to fill out a consent form before walking to the pharmacy area.
They will get a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the pharmacy area before having to sit in a 15-minute waiting area to ensure they do not have a bad reaction.
Before leaving, the patients will be given a card with information, including the date they received the vaccine and a code to register for their second dose 21 days from getting their first dose.
“We are going to continue to ask for more, and we are going to continue to ask for more predictability and supplies so we can start scheduling appointments,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “If we knew how many were coming next week and week after that, we can go ahead and open up more appointments.”
Dr. Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager and interim Metro Health director, said the city is working to administer 30,000 vaccines by the end of the week, a number that has been divided between the three major health care providers in the area.
“My hope is that we have 30,000 doses a week,” Bridger said. “That is months and months it will take us to give a first and second dose to the million-plus people who qualify right now to be vaccinated.”
Bridger said the city is putting itself in a position to request more and plans to expand its plans when more vaccine supply becomes available.
“Just like people saw us do with the testing sites,” Bridger said. “We started with one big testing site and then three big ones and then micro testing sites. That is the plan for vaccination rollout as well. Not everybody will be at the front of the line, but we will get to everybody in line. Everybody who wants the vaccine will get one. It will just take some time.”
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