Culver City Observer -

Los Angeles Unified today announced a collaboration with the Los Angeles Rams, Hollywood Park and the City of Inglewood to operate a large-scale vaccination site on the grounds of SoFi Stadium which could serve any of the public and private school teachers, administrators and staff in Los Angeles County from schools that wish to participate.

Los Angeles Unified plans to work closely with Los Angeles County on this program. On February 15, Los Angeles Unified and its partners, including Anthem Blue Cross and Cedars-Sinai, sent a letter to County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer and Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent Dr. Debra Duardo seeking authorization to operate the site and help the more than 1 million students and tens of thousands of teachers and staff in Los Angeles County return to school safely.

"Returning students, teachers and staff to campus in the safest way possible is essential to the well-being of our entire community," said Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner. "A bus driver takes students to school, a principal unlocks the front door, a teacher leads in the classroom, a cafeteria worker prepares lunch and a custodian keeps the school clean – they're all connected at school. A dedicated vaccination site and comprehensive effort for the education community would allow schools to re-open sooner and in a more coordinated manner."

"In speaking with Superintendent Beutner and Inglewood Mayor Butts about how we can best support our community during this time, it became clear that assisting schools to reopen safely would have wide-ranging impacts for all Angelenos," said Los Angeles Rams COO Kevin Demoff. "We are grateful to all our partners who have come together to develop a game plan that would allow us to operate this vaccination site at Hollywood Park safely and efficiently and serve educators all across the county."

"We have seen a need within our community, and we are working alongside Los Angeles Unified and its partners to provide a solution," said Jason Gannon, managing director, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. "We are proud to offer the space and infrastructure needed for a mass vaccination site for school staff. This is another critical step to keep Angelenos safe and healthy in our fight against COVID-19."

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts has committed to seek the support of the County Board of Supervisors for this effort to protect school staff and bring the children of Inglewood and Los Angeles County back to the classroom.

In accordance with its plan, 600 Los Angeles Unified school nurses and other licensed healthcare professionals would administer the vaccine and assist those who may have an adverse reaction. In addition, Anthem would provide volunteer clinical personnel to supplement the Los Angeles Unified staff and Cedars-Sinai is already providing training to support this vaccination effort. The Hollywood Park site, when fully operational, would be able to vaccinate more than 10,000 people a day.

The operation would use a technology and data system that can register individuals, schedule vaccination appointments and share the data with appropriate authorities.

"Anthem Blue Cross is proud to support LAUSD's COVID-19 vaccination efforts and help ensure those who want to receive the vaccine can get it," said Beth Andersen, President, Anthem Blue Cross.

"Safely reopening schools is a key step in improving our community's physical, mental and economic health," said Arthur J. Ochoa, JD, Chief Advancement Officer for Cedars- Sinai. "Cedars-Sinai has a long history of supporting Los Angeles Unified in its work to serve the children and families of Los Angeles and we are ready to support Los Angeles Unified in its effort to create a Super Point of Distribution so they can vaccinate school educators and staff."

"The fact is that schools never closed for thousands of frontline education workers who have been sanitizing schools, preparing meals and running COVID-19 testing centers," said Max Arias, SEIU Local 99 Executive Director. "Many of these essential school workers are people of color who have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The opening of this vaccination site would mark a major step forward to protect our most vulnerable communities and begin the process for an eventual safe return to in-person classes."