New Orleans To Open City's First Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Site

New Orleans is preparing to open its first mass vaccination site to protect residents against COVID-19. The site will be held at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in partnership with LCMC Health as well as the State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans Health Department.

"LCMC Health is here to create a healthier community and with the availability of community vaccines, we are doing that across our six hospitals," said Gregory C. Feirn, chief executive officer of LCMC Health."We appreciate the support of FEMA, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, our city and state leaders, and our residents as we continue to rollout COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the New Orleans area."

Using funds from a $4.1 million FEMA grant, "Operation: Be in That Number" will eventually have the capacity to vaccinate hundreds of people each day once more vaccines are sent to the state, WDSU reports.

"We want to assure the community that when more vaccines are available, we are ready to offer them in mass quantity," said Feirn.

While vaccines will continue to be distributed based on the state's health department phases, leaders believe the mass vaccination site is a step in the right direction for New Orleans residents.

"It is vital that we ramp up our vaccination efforts to ensure that all of our people can be protected from COVID-19, and we need the space to do it," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. "I thank LCMC Health for stepping up in the shared effort in partnership with the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center team to put the plans in place to vaccinate our residents so that we can be a stronger and healthier city on the road to recovery."

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