Coffey County Health Department Director Lindsay Payer says her department is heading up all aspects of the county’s vaccination process, except for administering the vaccines themselves.
According to Payer, the department is contracting out-licensed nurses in the county to handle the administration of the vaccines once they become more readily available to the public. When asked why the department has chosen this course of action Payer says “our office has taken every step we can to plan for the safe delivery of this vaccine to our community.”
Payer went on to say that “having a nursing license and knowing that I am accountable to that license” also played a role in the decision.
Payer says contracting nurses from outside of the department is not an uncommon course of action and is something the department had done during the swine flu pandemic to assist with the workload.
According to Payer, the department has already made plans to utilize the Burlington Recreation Center as a vaccination site as if the county receives enough vaccines to constitute the need for an additional facility.
For more information contact the Coffey County Health Department by calling 620-364-8631.
KVOE News has reached out to Coffey County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Sloyer for additional comment and perspective.
