CDC guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated expected later this week
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said a new Federal Emergency Management Agency-supported vaccination site in Philadelphia, and other ones like it around the US, will be able to vaccinate up to 6,000 people a day.
As of today, FEMA has setup more than 500 federally supported community vaccination centers and that number is “growing,” Mayorkas said speaking at the Pennsylvania Convention Center – the location of one of FEMA’s Community Vaccination Center pilot facilities.
This was Mayorkas’ first trip outside of Washington, DC, since taking office and he told reporters he had received the vaccine.
“It is important that people understand that the vaccine is safe. I have been vaccinated and you should feel comfortable being vaccinated as soon as you are possibly able to do so,” he said.
Mayorkas also issued a message to undocumented immigrants, saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection “will not conduct immigration enforcement operations at or near vaccine distribution sites or clinics.”
He said race, ethnicity, access to transportation or immigration status should not impact access to the vaccine.
The Center City Vaccination Center in Philadelphia is one of FEMA’s mass vaccination sites. It will open on March 3 and is staffed largely by uniformed military personnel, freeing up local staff, according to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
The vaccine being used at the facility is provided from a federal allotment, the mayor said, allowing the city to use its allotment elsewhere in the city.
Kenney also took a dig at the Trump administration, saying, “imagine that, the White House is now actually trying to save lives. What a difference that makes.”
