Soka University Becomes a COVID Vaccination Site

 As the new vaccines are created to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, more and more vaccination sites are being established and opened to the public. On Jan. 23, Soka University, a private university located down the road from Aliso Niguel High School, became one of many vaccination sites located across the country. For Orange County, this will be the second mass vaccination site opened in order to combat the spread of the virus in this area.

   Since the university is located within a massive housing community and is easily accessible by many other communities, this makes Soka the optimal location for vaccinations. Additionally, this location is more easily accessible to senior citizens living in the Laguna Woods Village retirement community as well as others over the age of 65 living in the surrounding area. Previously, the only other vaccination site had been Disneyland, a far destination for these seniors.

   “The more super sites that open, the faster people can get vaccinated,” says Mayor of Aliso Viejo Tiffany Ackley, according to CBS News Los Angeles. 

   As of right now, around 1,000 vaccines are being given out in Soka’s indoor gym and many are hoping to increase this number as COVID cases continue to rise in Southern Orange County. However, the vaccination supply is rather slow as vaccines are being transported all over the country. As a result, making appointments to receive a vaccination may be difficult, and the supply is somewhat limited as it takes time for new shipments to arrive. 

   Appointments can be made either through Orange County’s Othena app or website for both the Disneyland or Soka University vaccination sites. The only important differences between the two sites is the distance a person must travel to one, and whether or not one is comfortable with the indoor setting of Soka University’s site. Since transmission is likelier indoors, this could potentially make the University’s site a more dangerous place to be vaccinated. However, Disneyland is often overrun with people, posing another threat to the health of the masses. 

  Despite these issues, vaccination is a necessary step to overcoming this pandemic and must be done one way or another. Orange County is even planning on opening more sites as cases continue to skyrocket into the new year.