Santa Cruz County, Safeway, announce vaccine distribution partnership

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz County and Safeway stores has announced a partnership which would allow local stores to assist in distributing COVID-19 vaccines to frontline health care workers.

The county says the goal is to distribute vaccines to the 14,700 Phase 1A health care workers within Santa Cruz County, calling it a key step in the fight against COVID-19.

This move could also lead to a wider vaccine distribution to local residents in the future once we get to additional phases in the state/county's vaccine distribution process.

The partnership will commit Safeway to providing the County assistance with upcoming mass vaccination clinics by providing scheduling and vaccination support to accommodate up to 500 people per day at a future location.

The specific site has not been determined, but it'll start off by vaccinating health care workers.

"Our goal is to distribute vaccine supplies as quickly as possible, "said Health Services Agency Director, Mimi Hall. "Doing that demands that we rely on the strength of our local partnerships with health care providers, including Safeway pharmacies."

Santa Cruz County has partnerships in place with local hospitals, community clinics and health care providers.

The county is exploring a potential expansion of its vaccination network through local pharmacies, EMTs, dental offices and more.

The Emergency Operations Center for the county is already activated and assisting with how the mass vaccination process will work.

Right now 1,200 doses of the vaccine is expected to be distributed through four local Safeway stores for specific populations eligible to receive the vaccine immediately.