Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened to anyone who wanted a COVID-19 vaccine, appointment-free.
More than 1,640 people received walk-up vaccines Sunday when the stadium opened. The site vaccinated more than 10,000 people by the end of that evening.
Tony Graves is one of hundreds of people walking up to Mercedes-Benz Stadium Monday to get a free COVD vaccine without an appointment.
“I work at Georgia Tech and I walked all the down here I want to find out where do I go and how do I get my shot so I can be on my way,” Graves told CBS46. “I’ve been waiting for appointments and they kept putting it off, so I just came up here and walked in,” he added
The Mercedes-Benz site is offering the Pfizer vaccine only.
“One of the things we wanted to do when we operated in this location is to be able to have a place where we could take away barriers,” said Matthew Kallmyer, the Atlanta/Fulton County Emergency Management Director. “We wanted people to go ahead and not be able to say I would’ve liked to have a vaccine but… So, one of the things we did is we did night time operations. Tonight is one of those days where we go to 10 o’clock at night. We have 15 of those days where we do that.”
The Mercedes-Benz vaccination times for walk-up participants are:
· Monday, April 19, 2 p.m. – 10 p.m.
· Tuesday, April 20, 9:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
· Wednesday, April 21, 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
· Thursday, April 22, 9:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
· Friday, April 23, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The White House made April 19th the deadline for every state to open vaccines to all adults. Georgia made ages 16 and up vaccine eligible two weeks prior.
Dr. Cameron Webb, the senior equity advisor for the White House’s COVID response team, tells CBS46’s Hayley Mason that the Mercedes Benz model is one part of the solution helping move the country forward toward leaving this pandemic.
“This model fits with the concept of our large community vaccination centers and mass vaccination sites,” Webb said. “We have a large number of vaccines going out each day. People can show up, get vaccinated and get going with your day. It’s so important for people to have a mechanism that works for them and then not everybody feels comfortable going to one of these mass vaccination sites. So, the White House’s approach to a federal response, we’ve said pharmacies are really important.”
Dr. Webb says 90% of Americans can go to a pharmacy within five miles of their homes to be vaccinated if that’s more comfortable.
The Mercedes-Benz site offers free parking and is open to anyone in the state.
“We keep everything socially distanced,” said Kallmyer. “When you come through you walk through a pod. You’ll see that no ID is necessary, just come. Make sure you have that mask on and enjoy the opportunity,” he said adding that all walk-ups should go to Gate 1 to enter the stadium.
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