BART to offer free rides home for those vaccinated at Coliseum COVID vaccine site
Photo courtesy BART Twitter page.
OAKLAND, Calif. - BART will offer free ride vouchers for Bay Area residents who receive a coronavirus vaccine at the upcoming Oakland Coliseum mass vaccination site, the transit agency said Thursday.
The vaccination site is expected to open Tuesday and will eventually have the capacity to administer up to 6,000 vaccine doses per day, state officials said earlier this month.
To help facilitate the thousands of vaccinations, BART will offer a free $7 fare ticket to those who show their vaccination card with a valid date.
A $7 fare is enough to get from the Coliseum BART station to any other station in the system, save for the station at San Francisco International Airport, according to BART officials.
BART will also add extra staff members to the Coliseum station during the agency's operating hours to ensure those who need or want a fare ticket after their vaccination can get one.
The state is opening the drive-thru site at the Coliseum in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in support of President Joe Biden's plan to open 100 mass-vaccination sites nationwide during his first 100 days in office.
The state has already helped establish similar large-scale vaccination sites at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego. The Coliseum is the Bay Area's first such site.
"After you get the shot, we'll get you home," BART Board President Mark Foley said. "BART is proud to help people get to and from their vaccination appointment and we applaud the governor and the Biden-Harris Administration for selecting a location that is easily accessible by transit."
Alameda County is currently vaccinating health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, residents age 65 and older and workers in the education and child care, emergency services, law enforcement and food and agriculture industries.
As of Saturday, the county's Public Health Department has administered 30,662 vaccine doses.
Once the Coliseum site opens, vaccine-eligible residents will be able to schedule an appointment through the state's MyTurn registration tool at https://myturn.ca.gov.