OAKLAND — Mareme Sambndiaye received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine months ago, but she wanted to get more information before allowing her 12-year-old daughter, who has severe food allergies, to get the shots.
But with the delta variant surging in Alameda County and the upcoming reopening of Oakland Unified schools for in-person learning, Sambndiaye felt the time had come.
So she took her daughter, Aida Ndiaye, to Beebe Memorial Cathedral on Saturday, where church officials and Kaiser Permanente Northern California teamed up to host a vaccination clinic for anyone 12 and older.
“I feel comfortable with her going back to school now,” she said of her daughter. “I respect my friends’ decisions for getting their children vaccinated, but I keep on encouraging them to do it too.”
The pop-up distribution site offered backpacks equipped with pens, pencils and paper to the families stopping by, and lunch boxes and $25 Target gift cards for people getting a shot. It was an intentional back-to-school theme targeting school-aged pre-teens and teenagers who haven’t yet been inoculated against COVID.
While 77% of Alameda County residents were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, only 53% of residents between 12 and 15 years old had received both doses, according to county data.
“We’re playing music, we’re trying to make it a scene that’s comfortable and inviting for younger people,” said Michelle Gaskill-Hames, a senior vice president at Kaiser.
About 200 people preregistered for the shots. Officials at the clinic early Saturday afternoon didn’t have running totals of the number of vaccine recipients who had visited to that point. But a steady stream of parents were emerging from the clinic with their children, who had backpacks slung over their shoulders and fresh band-aids on their arms.
As her mother carried her new backpack, Aida said she was more than ready to return to campus at Claremont Middle School next month, when she is set to start the seventh grade after more than a year of distance learning.
“I want to interact with other people, go outside again and play around with my friends,” Aida said about what she’s looking forward to doing when she’s fully vaccinated. “After a year of distance learning, it gets old.”
The Beebe Memorial Cathedral hosted a similar event early in the vaccine distribution era that brought out 1,100 people, said Rev. Dr. Charley Hames, Jr., a senior pastor at the church.
The reverend is also Gaskill-Hames’ husband, and in his weekly sermons over the past year he has urged members of the church to mind their own health and safety.
“I make sure we say something every week: ‘Please make sure you get your vaccination; wherever you can, wear your masks; wash your hands; and follow the COVID protocols,’” Hames said. “We tell them, ‘We want you to be healthy and live abundant life.’”
Hames noted that the message is easier to relay to a more “progressive” congregation, but said the Bible also provides a useful metaphor for the cause — namely in the story of Noah’s ark. As the Book of Genesis tells it, Noah didn’t lead his people back to land until he was sure it was dry enough.
“I see COVID in the same context,” Hames said. “The rain is still coming; we’ve got to stay in the ark, meaning we’ve got to wear the mask. As long as delta and these other variants are coming out and people are not getting vaccinated, we’re going to have to continue to wear these masks, unfortunately.”
Skyline High School student Jessica Alvarez will be starting her sophomore year next month, and with her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine received Saturday, said she was excited to get back to campus, where she tends to be more productive about her studies.
Her mom, Llamila Cruz, said she didn’t let down her guard, even when case rates fell.
“I never stopped wearing my mask,” she said. “I wear my masks all the time, and I tell my friends and family to wear them too.”
Oakland resident Alia Thurman learned of the Beebe-Kaiser site in an email from Envision Academy, where her 16-year-old daughter, Kaylan Black, is a student. They got to the clinic early so Kaylan could get her first shot.
“I’m nervous, but I’m also relieved,” Thurman said of her daughter’s return to school for on-campus learning next month. “I feel like they didn’t get as much of a quality education as they do in person. It’s also a lot easier than when everyone’s hooked up to the WiFi and it keeps crashing!”
