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As I continue to prioritize safety during this very-much-not-over pandemic, I find myself thinking back to late-2021. I’d first gotten vaxxed that summer at CCSF, when the end looked nigh. That ended up being not the case, so we had to get our first boosters that autumn. With reservations filling quickly, I got a tip to visit Mission Wellness, which was happily jabbing any and all walk-ins without an appointment.
I showed up before they’d set up their welcoming station outside their storefront clinic with the giant PrEP pill in the window. Soon, I glanced back to see a long queue forming six feet behind me (when folks still cared about social distancing). Most were parents holding the hands of their uniformed kids, meaning they’d taken the kids out of school—probably Marshall and St. Peter’s—to get their first eligible COVID vaccines. It was one of those things that glad to be part of humanity.
As I waited for my turn inside, I went online to do some more research about this place. It’s fully owned and operated by women of color. People I know have low-key dug it for its comprehensive STD prevention services (hence the giant PrEP pill). They act as a lifeline to Mission residents in need of healthcare, both insured and not. And that was what I learned before I saw how their staff were so good at patient care that the kids getting their jabs were completely put at ease—so much so that some of them also got flu jabs on the same day, ‘cause why not?
I’ve gone back to Mission Wellness for nearly all of my subsequent COVID shots. The only reason I didn’t go back for the most recent one was because they weren’t able to stock Novavax. That’s not their fault: Corporate machinations have made that brand so out-of-reach that only big chains like Walgreens and CostCo carry it. That doesn’t change the fact that Mission Wellness is fully-stocked on COVID prevention tools (tests, Moderna & Pfizer vaccines, Paxlovid anti-virals), HIV/AIDS prevention tools, and a professional staff that know how to treat patients in the Mission because they’re from the Mission.
Walgreens can threaten to leave SF all it wants; as long as independent places like Mission Wellness are still available, the city will be in good, caring hands.
MISSION WELLNESS 2424 Mission, SF. More info here.
