SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The County of San Bernardino, in partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Inland Empire 66ers, held a vaccination event on Saturday with the goal to administer 1,000 doses.

Among those who signed up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment was Adriana Martinez.


What You Need To Know

  • The county's goal was to administer 1,000 vaccines in a single day at a single location

  • Appointments filled up in a day, but other single-day, single location vaccination events are planned

  • California's vaccine supply expected to see a 15% decrease next week, and a 5% the week after

  • A rep from the county says they are at 95-97% utilization within 96 hours of receiving vaccines from state

"I’m pretty nervous but you know," she said. "I know I need to do this because I do work with children."

Martinez added that she's not exactly a fan of getting vaccines because she does not like needles. But after arriving on Saturday at the vaccination center, she had her temperature taken and filled out her paperwork before anxiously taking a seat to receive the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“I knew I just wanted to get one shot and just get it over with,” she said.

Once Martinez received her dose, she became one of the 1,000 individuals that San Bernardino County aimed to get vaccinated in a single day at a single location.

According to Andrew Goldfrach, the county’s interim health director, the vaccination event at San Manuel Stadium was one of the few events held across the county that day.

“Instead of us having one event that’s a 3,000 or 4,000-person event in one location, it’s really important for us to have vaccine available where people live,” he said.

Goldfrach added that San Bernardino County is the largest geographic county in the continental U.S. 

“It really didn’t make a lot of sense for us to have one event in one location and have people drive potentially up to three hours to get there,” he said. 

Goldfrach explained how vaccination events like the one held this weekend will be planned for future weekends, but it will depend on the availability of doses.

“Total vaccine supplies are expected to decrease just 15% next week & 5% the week after," Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office tweeted Thursday.

“So when we get them, we get them out," said Goldfrach. "And we’re at about 95-97% utilization within 96 hours of when the state give it to us, vaccines are in arms."

“I feel great," said Martinez after receiving her dose. "Now that I think about it, I was just nervous like for no reason, I guess just for the needle part."

Once things start opening back up, the first thing Martinez said she would now be doing is going to Disneyland.

“I have been wanting to go to Disneyland for a while to take my kids,” she said.

The county said that as soon as they opened up appointments on Thursday, all the spots had been taken by Friday morning.