The Entertainment and Sports Arena was a mass vaccination center in the fight against the coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has altered our way of life this past year. But we may be moving into a post-COVID era after our society reaches herd immunity with vaccines.

Last weekend, the District of Columbia gave about 3,000 vaccines at multiple sites including the Washington Convention Center in Downtown, Providence Health System in Northeast and the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Congrees Heights according to Jess Arnold of WUSA-TV. Of those 3,000 shots, 1,500 vaccines were administered at ESA, the Washington Mystics’ home arena. It’s also part of the same complex where they and the Wizards practice.

ESA, in particular, is located in Ward 8 which has a higher proportion of low-income residents and had the most deaths, 196 per Arnold’s article, from the coronavirus.

Though the Mystics and Monumental Sports & Entertainment don’t own ESA, it is still a good thing to see that their arena, one of the largest facilities in Eastern D.C., is being used to vaccinate area residents.

The vaccines administered last week are from Johnson and Johnson which are single-dose ones. While their efficacy is not as high as the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it is a one-and-done shot. And most importantly, the vaccine is very effective in preventing severe cases of coronavirus, hospitalizations and deaths.

As vaccinations continue to get rolled out, please sign up by clicking on the links below to get it if you haven’t already. I can’t wait to get my vaccine .... eventually ... just because I signed up on a government site and will wait for my turn. The links are only to D.C.’s, Virginia’s and Maryland’s sites.

• D.C. vaccine registration
• Virginia vaccine registration
• Maryland vaccine registration