NBC 7’s Claudette Stefanian reports form UC San Diego on the last day of operation at its vaccination site.
As demand for vaccines wanes, some of the supersites that have played a critical part in vaccinating masses of people in San Diego County are starting to close.
One of those is the North Central Super Station at UC San Diego's RIMAC gym. UC San Diego Health in a tweet mentioned the vaccine site's last day of operation would be this week.
NBC 7 spoke with people who showed up on Tuesday to get a shot at the UCSD site. Over the months, lines have become what’s expected at vaccine sites, but on the final day at UCSD, Daniel Bigelow, who was getting his second shot, was shocked to find there was no wait.
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“Last time I was here there were 300 people in a line and that was not an exaggeration,” Bigelow said.
Tuesday, Bigelow was able to walk right up to the door. When he went in for his first dose, it wasn't that easy.
“Probably took an hour and a half to get through it,” Bigelow said. “It was brutal.”
Shirley Hu was also getting inoculated on Tuesday.
“There are so many people waiting here but today we were shocked it is empty,” Hu said.
NBC 7 saw people trickling in and out of the location throughout the day. A worker on site mentioned that the morning was pretty busy in comparison to the emptiness seen in the afternoon. Hu was joined by Sihan Li who told NBC 7 the no-wait game actually put him on edge.
“I’m a bit worried because I don’t know if enough people are getting vaccinated,” Li said. “I actually feel good waiting in the line.”
Li wasn’t the only one thrown off. Bigelow was also concerned about the lack of lines.
“I hope it means that most people are already getting a vaccine, but I’m a little concerned people get the first dose and think they’re all set," he said.
The people we spoke with had mixed reactions to the site closing. Some believe there are plenty of options out there still, while others were concerned the closing of supersites might mean less access for community members.
UCSD has not yet gotten back to NBC 7's inquiry into what will follow the site closure.
The site has been managed by UC San Diego Health, in partnership with San Diego County. UC San Diego Health tweeted that the site had administered nearly 200,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to San Diego residents over the course of its run.
