The Los Angeles Lakers and Crypto.com Arena are partnering with the LA County Department of Public Health to host vaccine clinics at home games beginning with Friday night’s contest against the Detroit Pistons and will continue throughout the month of December at all home games.
Both arena staff and ticketed guests will be able to receive both the updated coronavirus (COVID-19) booster as well as the influenza vaccine prior to games.
According to the LA County Department of Public Health, the updated COVID-19 booster can protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the more recently spreading Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. It is strongly recommended that anyone over the age of 5 receive the updated COVID-19 booster at least two months after any vaccine or booster shot.
The department of public health also recommends that everyone six months or older is immunized against the flu as anyone is capable of contracting it. It is especially dangerous for those considered high-risk and are more likely to develop serious flu-related complications. This includes people 65 years of age or higher, children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women and those dealing with chronic medical conditions such as HIV, diabetes or asthma.
This isn’t the first time the Crypto.com Arena has been used to help with public service. Back in 2020 the then-Staples Center was turned into a massive voting center for the 2020 general election. This was in partnership with Lakers’ superstar LeBron James’ More Than A Vote campaign which was created in order to help protect the voting rights of African-Americans around the country.
Dennis Schroder, Thomas Bryant set to make Lakers season debut
The contest in which these vaccine clinics will first be available will see the Lakers host the Detroit Pistons and for the first time this season, the team could be at full strength. After both undergoing thumb surgery the same week, point guard Dennis Schroder and big man Thomas Bryant are set to make their season debut for the Lakers.
“They’ll be listed as probable but more than likely they’ll definitely be seeing floor time,” head coach Darvin Ham said at practice. “But we’ll see, they had another good day. They’re stacking really good days consecutively and we’re just excited to have them back in the fold.”
The bigger question mark continues to be superstar LeBron James who is still being listed as questionable due to that strained adductor muscle that kept him out of Sunday’s game against Brooklyn.
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