This week's wild weather has impacted the county's coronavirus response, prompting the temporary closure of the coronavirus vaccination super station at Petco Park.
Officials had hoped to reopen the site by noon on Monday but later made a series of decisions, ultimately determining to keep it closed through Wednesday while repairs were made.
High winds affected several of the overhead structures -- essentially large easy-ups -- used to protect workers and those getting vaccinated from the elements. Sky Ranger 7 showed damage to 9 or 10 of the "tents"; it's difficult to assess how much the equipment under the tents was affected as well.
Patients who were scheduled for Monday appointments that were canceled were instructed to consult their UC San Diego Health MyChart for information about their rescheduled appointments, which would be made up on Thursday. People with Tuesday appointments are being rescheduled for Saturday, officials said, also through MyChart.
The outage at the super station comes at a time when qualified San Diegans have reported difficulties securing a reservation in the first place. Many seniors NBC 7 spoke to over the past few days said they simply can't get an appointment. Mark Smith, 70, said he tried for days to get one.
"I've tried sometimes every hour on the hour, on all the different sites and a 65-year-old cannot get an appointment," Smith said.
Smith ended up calling Scripps and Sharp Healthcare. On Monday, he was finally able to get the vaccine through Sharp at the Coronado Community Center. He said the site was very organized, but staff said they may not be able to provide his second dose, depending on availability in the next three weeks.
County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said at a county coronavirus briefing on Monday that officials were expected to expand hours and add personnel on those days to make up for the cancellations.
No other vaccine sites have been affected, authorities told NBC 7. It should also be noted that appointments made for the Petco Park site that have been canceled are non-transferable to other locations.
At this time, only health care workers and those 65 and older can make appointments for a vaccine at a county site. San Diego County vaccination information is available here. Vaccine reservations can be made here.
The challenge now, though: Another significant storm is expected to move over the San Diego area Thursday night or Friday.
Officials hope to vaccinate more than 5,000 people a day at the Petco Park site, though it has yet to attain that goal.
