Kedren Health Becomes a Major Staging Ground for COVID-19 Vaccine Inoculation( Continued)
and demonstrating their reliability, the Kedren project snowballed. The County started shipping 600 doses at a time directly to the site.“ Every day we faced a different set of challenges that we were committed to figuring out. We were encouraged and optimistic,” he said.
With no precedents or blueprint, the team adopted a“ win or keep at it until we solve it” mentality. They became a pillar of support for the local Black and Brown community in South Los Angeles. Local physicians have now brought their whole staff to Kedren for vaccination.
Dr. Abraham’ s support team is almost exclusively CDUrelated. Dr. Mohayed Mohayed is a Psychiatry resident in rotation. Of Dr. Mohayed, Dr. Abraham notes,“ He has drawn almost 12,000 vaccine doses and saved the lives of so many people.”
Governor Gavin Newsom and Dr. Jerry Abraham discuss the Kedren vaccination site.
Kelly Delgardo, a University undergrad who grew up in the local community, noted that four of her relatives have died of COVID-19. Robert Gilbertson is a CDU Biomedical science undergrad. Natalia Peñaloza is a third-year medical student, and Jeff Warukira is a Post-Bacc student.“ The participation of the CDU team is really important. We really couldn’ t have done this work without them,” noted Tran.
Dr. Abraham summed up the progress made in the Kedren vaccine program in saying,“ This work is analogous to the parting of the Red Sea. The team is like Moses leading his people across, one vaccination at a time. Or Noah’ s Ark. We want people to get on board. Get in line, get a vaccine shot at Kedren.
“ This is a tale of two Los Angeleses. First there is the incidence of Black and Brown seniors dying all across the city. A very grim picture. Then there is the prospect of ensuring that everyone gets a life-saving dose of the vaccine. The flood is coming, get in line, get on board.”
CDU student volunteers staff the Kedren site.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 4