Vaccine and resource fair to be held in Porterville starting Sunday

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Three thousand doses of the Pfizer vaccine are ready to be given to South Valley residents starting on Sunday as part of Tulare County's first drive-thru vaccine and resource fair at the Porterville Fairgrounds, presented by Listos California.

In addition to getting a shot, officials say more than 30 community-based organizations will also be on hand offering a wide array of services.

"These community organizations are coming together to hand out and provide PPE, hand sanitizer supplies, all three days we'll be distributing food boxes, as well as emergency and disaster preparedness guides and materials," Tulare County HHSA's Carrie Monteiro said. "And that is also a large portion of this event and very fitting because we are butting up and entering into wildfire season."

"Many, many organizations are playing a part in this," United Way of Tulare County Executive Director Rosemary Caso said. "I don't want to name one because there's so many."

Caso says the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, provided key funding for the three-day event.

The goal, Caso says, is to make it as easy as possible for people in the Porterville area to get vaccinated and educated on services available to them.

"We know that people can call 211 at any time, but they may not feel comfortable," Caso said. "And so how do we partner that up with a vaccination clinic to be able to protect our neighbors but also provide resources to them?

Anyone with questions can call or e-mail the United Way.

The event runs from 9AM to 4PM on Sunday, and 12 pm to 7 pm on Monday and Tuesday.

Appointments are encouraged on MyTurn, but they'll also be taking walk-ins.

Nearly 30% of Tulare County's population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.