Disneyland is preparing to welcome thousands of people to its property by the end of the week, but not for guests looking to enjoy the resort’s rides and attractions. Officials in Orange County, California, announced Jan. 11 that Disneyland would become the county’s first “Super Point-of-Dispensing” site to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to residents. A Super POD site is designed to dispense vaccines to thousands of residents each day once it is up and running.
“The Disneyland Resort, the largest employer in the heart of Orange County, has stepped up to host the county’s first Super POD site — undertaking a monumental task in our vaccination distribution process,” said acting Chairman Andrew Do, an Orange County Supervisor representing the First District, in a press release. “We truly appreciate the support of the Orange County Fire Authority, our cities and our residents as we continue to rollout COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the county.”
Disneyland has been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though Walt Disney World in Florida opened its gates back in July 2020 with a long list of COVID-19 measures, state officials in California have not given the green light for Disneyland to do the same because of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases.
When the resort opens as a mass-vaccination site later this week, it will vaccinate Orange County residents or those who work in the county who are eligible based on California’s vaccination priority list. Vaccinations are by appointment only.
Orange County remains at a Widespread (Tier-1) risk level for COVID-19, which means there are at least seven new daily cases per 100,000 tests. The county is vaccinating for Phase 1A right now, which includes first responders, healthcare workers in high-risk settings and law enforcement. More than 2,200 people there are hospitalized, and the current rate of newly confirmed infections exceeds a quarter of a million people a week, the Orange County Register reported.
Though Disneyland will become Orange County’s first Super POD site, it’s not the only mass-vaccination site planned in the area. Dodger Stadium — which has been serving as a COVID-19 testing site and has administered 1 million tests — will also serve as a large-scale vaccination site that should be able to vaccinate 12,000 people a day once it’s up and running, KTLA5 reported. Officials have discussed using county fairgrounds, other baseball stadiums and Knott’s Berry Farm as mass-vaccination sites as well, according to the OC Register.