Getting a COVID vaccine in SLO? You could catch a free concert
COVID-19 vaccinations are offered at various locations around San Luis Obispo County, but only one venue offers entertainment.
Call it improvisation and injections — or, jams and jabs.
Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon, Cuesta College jazz students rehearse on the front porch of Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo as people line up across the plaza for scheduled vaccination appointments. In other words, folks waiting for doses get a free concert.
Musicians learn to play better when they play as a group, a skill lost to the era of the video conference.
To solve that problem, the jazz students have left the rehearsal hall and gone outside.
Ron McCarley, director of jazz studies at Cuesta College said, “Because it’s safer when we have saxophones and things like that to be rehearsing outside, here we are out on the porch of the CPAC here.”
When Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the county’s coronavirus vaccination clinic at Cuesta College, the sound of trumpet, drums and saxophone could be heard from two buildings away. Those waiting for vaccinations got a better view as they waited their turn in a distanced and masked line.
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department also operates vaccination clinics at South County Regional Center in Arroyo Grande and the Paso Robles Event Center.
Where to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
As of Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is administering coronavirus vaccines to health care workers; long-term care facility residents and employees; education workers; childcare workers; food service workers; emergency services workers and people age 50 and up, by appointment only. Some education workers are also eligible for vaccinations through their places of employment.
Those eligible to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can register online or by phone for San Luis Obispo County’s vaccine appointment lottery.
To register for the lottery, go to www.RecoverSLO.org/VaccineAppointments and complete the registration form. Those without internet access or who have difficulty with the online form can call 805-543-2444 or 805-781-4280 and an operator can help them.
To sign up for email alerts, visit EmergencySLO.org/en/newsletter.aspx.
In addition to San Luis Obispo County’s vaccine appointment lottery, appointments for coronavirus vaccines can be made through Dignity Health, Tenet Health Central Coast and chain pharmacies including CVS and Vons.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 1:15 PM.
