On Monday, the Rams hosted a press conference at Hollywood Park alongside Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Cedars-Sinai, and Anthem Blue Cross to celebrate the opening of the Hollywood Park vaccination site for teachers and district staff.
The site will be available to all teachers and education staff from LAUSD, who serve nearly 650,000 students across more than 700 miles, as well as LA County charter schools in efforts to reopen schools in the safest way possible.
"Today marks an important milestone as we embark on an effort to vaccinate a very large number of people in a very short period of time," said LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner. "Like all who compete at SoFi Stadium, it takes a team and we're grateful for the extraordinary team that's helping in this effort."
Anthem Blue Cross clinicians are onsite to assist LAUSD nurses to vaccinate school staff working at small sites and preschools.
"We are pleased to announce that we are going to be here as volunteer clinicians to help in the vaccination process, standing side-by-side with the LAUSD nurses who are really doing the bulk of the vaccination and the program for the teachers of the school district," said Dr. David Pryor, Regional Vice President and Director at Anthem Blue Cross. "We were called and asked to help out and we are so thrilled to do that."
The site is also working with Cedars-Sinai, the Rams' official health partner, to develop protocols and provide technical advice for pharmaceutical management as well as staff and data processes to ensure the vaccinations are administered safely and effectively.
Rams Left Tackle Andrew Whitworth and Linebacker Kenny Young attended the event and shared a few remarks about their passion for assisting the Los Angeles community during this time.
"We've got a great opportunity in front of us to get our kids back safe and to keep our community safe and moving forward," said Whitworth. "When I signed here four years ago, the first thing I realized very quickly was the Rams' commitment to making a difference and meeting the critical needs of our community…I know that when Mr. Kroenke built this stadium and incredible venue that's going to be so special to all of us here in LA for a lot of different reasons and for a lot of different occasions in the future, he didn't just build it for football games. He built it for a community to come together, for people to have a place to rally behind and come together and be together. And not only that, he built it for a football team to be able to strive to win, not just on the field but off of it, and that to me is one of the greatest honors we can have as an NFL franchise."
Young echoed Whitworth's remarks about the importance of getting kids back to school.
"What's most important is our future and our kids," said Young. "I'll do my part to get as many kids as we can back to their comfort level."
The opening of the vaccination site also aligned with LA County education sector's vaccination eligibility guidelines. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsome, committed an additional 25,000 doses of vaccinations for school staff in LAUSD over the next two weeks.
Following the press conference, education leaders were given their first vaccination while lines of cars filed through the stadium parking lots to receive their vaccinations.
The vaccination site marks the first time Hollywood Park has hosted a capacity crowd.
For more information about the Rams' efforts in the Los Angeles community, please visit www.therams.com/community.
