COVID Super Vaccination Site

Soka Campus Opened as Super POD

There are many ways that Soka University is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Aliso Viejo campus in 2021 – but here’s a very special one illustrating service to our community.

On January 23, 2021, in cooperation with the County of Orange and the City of Aliso Viejo, Soka University opened as the second regional Super POD site (Point of Dispensing) to help vaccinate health care workers and seniors in south Orange County against COVID-19. (Disneyland was the first to open the week before.)

At its close in June, 296,594 people have been vaccinated on SUA’s campus. Vaccinations were open to everyone 16 and over who had an appointment obtained on Othena.com. Vaccinations took place inside Soka’s Recreation Center, which enabled the site to stay open even when high winds closed outside locations like Disneyland.

Soka University has trained as a POD site since 2007, so the campus was ready to respond quickly to the Orange Count y Health Department’s request for use of our site.

How well did it work? Here is an excerpt from an email to SUA: “Just had to tell you how impressed I was that Soka University hosted administering the vaccine at your campus. Even more impressed at how well it was organized and executed. The staff was extremely helpful, directions clearly marked, with plenty of friendly staff to answer and help along the way. I can’t remember a time that I saw so many people helping people and in such a good mood doing it.”

What a wonderful way to celebrate 20 years by giving back to our neighbors!

“I can’t remember a time that I saw so many people helping people and in such a good mood doing it.”