I think most everyone is aware of the fabulous event that occurred last Tuesday, when, in partnership with Solano County Public Health and many others, we were able to vaccinate 1,453 Solano County seniors, 75 and over. It was a beautiful moment for the City of Benicia. It was tinged with emotion as those receiving assistance and those giving assistance saw clearly the love that lies in all of our hearts and the goodness of community coming together to help the most vulnerable. From dedicated City staff, to community volunteers to our amazing, thoughtful, and brave seniors, everyone came together to make this a very special moment.

 

It was also a special moment because it represented the heart of the vision of our City staff that you will see moving forward. And that vision is to be the very best at what we do: Serving our community. We will set the bar. We will do everything we can to be the example of greatness that our community and our peers point to when the talk about excellence in governance. But we will never be able to accomplish this without the active participation of our community in achieving that vision. And last Tuesday that is exactly what happened.

 

I want to take a moment to thank some organizations in particular. Given we knew we were going to have some technology gaps, upon determining the vaccine clinic was a ‘go’, we initiated a call center to assist seniors, with questions, and even manually sign them up if they were having difficulty or did not have the requisite technology. Carquinez Village immediately stepped up and helped staff the call center, along with City staff, for four days. On the day of the event we had volunteers from the LDS Church and Rotary, as well as Police Volunteers. I’d like to especially thank our Mayor and Council, who have been behind this event 100% and event volunteered to assist before and during the event. With a Mayor and Council, City staff and the community united, nothing can stop us! Of course special thanks to Solano County Public Health for taking a chance on us and stepping up to support us so strongly in this moment. Thank you to the Kaiser nurses and doctors, nurses from other organizations, Medic Ambulance, SolTrans, and Valero for their support.

 

Also, a special shout out to our City staff. It was an entire team effort. It really didn’t matter what department you were from or what your job was…it was ‘all in’, and total commitment. It seemed insurmountable when we first said, ‘Yes, we’re going to do this!’ But we did it. I’m very proud of our team!

 

I’m certain I’ve missed some folks who were integral to making this event happen, so I apologize if that is the case. Know you helped our community in their time of need!

It is important to note that seniors who received their vaccination on Tuesday, must return on Tuesday, March 2 to receive their second dose. There is no need to register or make an appointment. They should return to the same location at the same appointment time they had on February 2.

 

Lastly, we are committed to helping vaccinate as many people as we possibly can. A number of other jurisdictions were at our event with the aim of running similar events themselves. The County and the Fairgrounds were there to take ’lessons learned’ and apply them to much larger events, with the hopes of vaccinating several thousand people per day. Friday, I heard that Pfizer will deliver 200 million doses by May (ahead of their projected July delivery). Johnson & Johnson has applied for emergency authorization from the FDA for their vaccine and Moderna says they are looking to increase their production. The City of Benicia is already asking for permission to hold further clinics.

Thank you for your interest in the City of Benicia This Week!