Plans for a coronavirus mass vaccination clinic are developing now that Flint Hills Community Health Center knows it will have 400 available doses later this week.
Health Center CEO Renee Hively made the announcement on KVOE’s COVID-19 Vaccination Briefing on Monday. Hively says one goal of the upcoming clinic — which hasn’t been scheduled yet — is to get people scheduled who had called the Health Center, thinking they were automatically on a wait list.
Hively says about 300 people had called the Health Center towards that end. She initially said about 90 people were yet to be called as of Monday morning, but that number is now between 150 and 175. Phase 2 residents ages 65 and older and Phase 1-eligible workers who haven’t yet been vaccinated will also be eligible for the next mass vaccination clinic, with that information to be announced through traditional media and the Lyon County Public Health Facebook page.
At Newman Regional Health, Pharmacy Director Ashley Edwards says the hospital has started keeping a three-year database so it can alert residents ages 65 and up about the shots, and it’s also taking calls from people wanting to get scheduled. With ongoing concerns about supplies, Edwards says the hospital and Health Center are working together to get the community vaccinated as fast as possible.
The Vaccination Briefing delved into a range of topics, including the upcoming expansion of the vaccine effort to pharmacies and doctor’s offices — although that is currently on hold due to the short supply. Both Edwards and Hively say healthcare staff are wasting little time in getting people vaccinated and have not held onto any vaccines, aside from the Phase 1 mass vaccination clinic over a week ago — and that was to combine with vaccines last week to have enough doses for the Phase 2 clinic this past Friday.
There was also the reminder Phase 2 has far more eligible patients than Phase 1. The initial phase had about 1,500 frontline healthcare workers and other categories involved. Phase 2 has better than 6,000 residents ages 65 and older just in that subcategory. People in non-congregate settings and high-contact critical workers will be added later in Phase 2.
Both Newman Regional Health and the Health Center are asking residents to monitor traditional media and social media for information about upcoming vaccination clinics and to follow online links to get scheduled. The process for adding a direct phone line to help people without Internet access is being fine-tuned.
