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French Hospital offering free COVID-19 vaccines to patients

The vaccines are free of charge to those who want them
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French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo is offering COVID-19 shots to everyone admitted or receiving treatment at the hospital.

It’s part of a partnership with the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, which will be providing the vaccines.

Organizers say the partnership will give vulnerable populations and under-served community members the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

“It’s an opportunity for us to educate why they haven't gotten it thus far and maybe tell them this is a good time to kind of proceed,” said Thomas Vendegna, chief medical officer for French Hospital. “This Delta variant, it’s no longer that we need 50 or 60 percent of the population to be vaccinated to get herd immunity. Some people are quoting that we need really high percentages to get herd immunity for the Delta variant, so, yeah, 90 percent maybe, so it’s really important to get vaccinated."

French Hospital will be administering the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine free of charge for those already receiving treatment at the hospital.