An aerial view of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood where LAUSD wants to
open a large-scale vaccine site. The district teamed up with the Los
Angeles Rams and city of Inglewood, among others, for the site. (photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons)

Los Angeles Unified announced that it has teamed up with the Los Angeles Rams, Hollywood Park and the city of Inglewood to operate a large-scale vaccine 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.

As part of 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 district 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 district plans to work closely with the county on the program. L.A. Unified, along with its partners, sent a letter to the County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer and Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent 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.

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

“Returning students, teachers and staff to campus in the safest way possible is essential to the well-being of our entire community,” L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said. “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 reopen 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,” Los Angeles Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said. “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.