Thousands get ‘shot of hope’ at Natomas drive-through vaccination clinic. See if you qualify.
They came in a steady stream of vehicles Thursday to Natomas High School, most of them people 65 years and older getting their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The line snaked efficiently through the campus as volunteers administered the shots to people sitting in their cars.
For the fourth Thursday in a row, about 1,400 people were vaccinated on Feb. 4 at a drive-through clinic created by City Council President Pro Tem Angelique Ashby’s office in partnership with the North Natomas Unified School District, the Sacramento County Department of Public Health and Dr. Rusty Oshito and his colleagues at Urgent Care Now. The clinic is staffed by 50 volunteers each week.
“This is so heartening, to see thousands of people get a little shot in the arm that allows them to resume their lives,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “It gives me such hope.”
Vaccinations are currently available for healthcare workers, long-term care residents and people ages 65 and over. Eligibility has recently expanded to those working in farming and food service, education and childcare and emergency services.
To sign up for an appointment at the Natomas clinic, visit www.natomasunified.org.
Natomas Unified Board member Lisa Kaplan said the district has made hundreds of phone calls to f residents classified as economically disadvantaged in an effort to get the vaccine to the people who have been affected most by the devastation of Covid-19.
“It’s all hands on deck,” said Karina Talamantes, Ashby’s chief of staff and a member of the Sacramento County Board of Education. Talamantes was a driving force behind the creation of the clinic and has been doing plenty of outreach on her own.
In one car that pulled up, the driver said in Spanish that he had learned about the clinic through a flyer in the La Superior supermarket that Talamantes had left.
“She went to the meat markets, she went to every Spanish language grocery store, the consulate — everything,” Ashby said of Talamantes.
Similar clinics are being held around the city and county. To find out more, visit www.saccounty.net.
