South Los Angeles clinic expected to reach 100,000 vaccinations by next week

Nurses Week is underway and the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) is calling on registered nurse volunteers to assist with Covid-19 vaccinations at the Kedren Community Health Center in partnership with International Medical Corps. Nurses Week runs from May 6 to May 12.

Interested RNs can sign up to volunteer for the vaccine team here. RNRN—a disaster-relief project of the California Nurses Foundation (CNF) and National Nurses United (NNU)—has deployed nine teams of volunteers to assist with the administration of Covid-19 vaccines in the historically underserved South Los Angeles community. A tenth team of RNRN nurses began volunteering this week.

By next week, nurse volunteers from the RNRN, International Medical Corps, community volunteers, and Kedren staff will have helped with the administration of more than 100,000 Covid vaccine doses.

"We nurses are on the front lines and we see the devastation of what Covid has done to communities," said Sandy Reding, RN at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and a president of California Nurses Association. "I volunteered for the vaccine clinic because I feel that it is my duty to reach underserved areas that have been disproportionately affected by Covid. We must stop the spread."

“It was great to see so many people getting vaccinated and to do my part to help reach underserved communities,” said Jessica Fernandez, RN at UCLA Medical Center, who volunteered in April. “I saw generations of families arriving together to get vaccinated. Everyone was so grateful and excited to get their shot.”

“The clinical services provided by RNRN volunteers have been key to our vaccination efforts,” said Rebecca Milner, Chief Advancement Officer for International Medical Corps. “Their support has enabled us to reach communities that have been unduly affected by Covid-19, and fill a critical need for vaccines.”

“It is critically important to ensure that vaccine distribution is free and equitable to everyone,” said Jean Ross, RN and president of NNU. “We are so proud of the work of our RNRN volunteers who are helping to provide greater equity in access to this critical tool in defeating the pandemic.”

RNRN, a project of NNU and the California Nurses Foundation and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a national network of direct-care RNs powered by National Nurses United that coordinates sending volunteer RNs to disaster-stricken areas where and when they are needed.