Southwest Community Health Center opened its new mass COVID-19 vaccination site in Bridgeport today.

The site at 1020 Fairfield Ave. will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Health care workers from the facility have administered vaccinations at another site down the road since December, but they say this new location will allow them to accommodate more people.

The site will be able to give out 400 doses per day.

Mollie Melbourne, the CEO of Southwest Community Health Center, says she hopes to expand that number as supply grows.

"We are thrilled that we have this location available to us, we use it for testing when we're not doing mass vaccination," Melbourne says. "But we're able to really move through a very large number of people in a fairly short amount of time."

Carmen Rivera-Torres, the chief nursing officer at the center, adds, "It's extremely important that our patients understand the safety of the vaccine, that we're here for them, that we're here to stand alongside them, that we will get through this together, as one community."

All vaccinations are by appointment only through the VAMS website.