Dodger Stadium converting into COVID-19 vaccine center this week
The home of the Los Angeles Dodgers will continue to be a key part in the fight against COVID-19.
Dodger Stadium, which has been the largest coronavirus testing site in the country, will convert into a vaccination distribution center this week, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The stadium has administered more than 1 million coronavirus tests since it opened in May, per the report. The hope is now to vaccinate up to 12,000 people a day at the stadium once the center has been fully converted.
“Vaccines are the surest route to defeating this virus and charting a course to recovery, so the city, county, and our entire team are putting our best resources on the field to get Angelenos vaccinated as quickly, safely, and efficiently as possible,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement, via the Los Angeles Times.
The coronavirus has hit Southern California, and the United States in general, hard in recent weeks.
The country is averaging more than 254,000 new cases a day over the past week, according to The New York Times, and recorded more than 300,000 new cases in a single day last week — an all-time record. The United States is averaging more than 3,200 deaths a day, too, also an all-time high since the pandemic began.
California has had more than 2.7 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, nearly 1 million more than the next closest state. The country is averaging more than 42,000 new cases a day — 14,500 of which are coming from Los Angeles County.
At least nine million people in the United States have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Monday, according to The Washington Post, well below the initial goal of 20 million before the end of 2020 — something credited largely to a plethora of distribution issues.
Dodger Stadium is just one of several major stadiums and convention centers across the country being converted into a vaccine center, along with State Farm Stadium in Arizona, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the Alamodome in San Antonio and Minute Maid Park in Houston, to name a few.
More from Yahoo Sports:
