Phase 2 coronavirus vaccinations are the focus of Lyon County Public Health, especially when it comes to seniors.
That has been stated numerous times recently by Public Health with both a closed vaccination pod coming Friday and the agency populating a waitlist this week. Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says the department is asking people in congregate settings and high-contact critical work settings to hold off on signing up for the waitlist for now.
Millbern is hoping vaccination numbers will increase this month, so she would like to see a greater number of Phase 2-eligible residents get vaccinated by early March.
So far, over 2,000 residents have signed up by calling the Public Health COVID-19 Hotline at 620-208-3741 or by going to the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lyoncounty.org. Another 230 names are coming over from Newman Regional Health. Millbern says there are “quite a few” people that called both places and some that have also called other locations as well, so there is some overlap that is getting vetted out at this time.
With the vaccination situation still in flux, Millbern encourages seniors to get on the list now — but if there is an opportunity to get a dose soon, they should take it.
Residents under age 65 using MailChimp will not be put on the master waitlist at this time, although they will receive notifications from the Health Center and Public Health. Residents using MailChimp also will not be slotted for vaccination appointments at this time.
Millbern will join KVOE’s Newsmaker segment at 7:15 am Thursday for her weekly COVID-19 update.
10 am Wednesday: Lyon County waitlist traffic slows down slightly from Tuesday’s limit-stretching first day
Phones are busy, but not to the levels they were Tuesday as Flint Hills Community Health Center formally established a waitlist for coronavirus vaccines.
Health Center CEO Renee Hively says Wednesday’s volume of calls is down a bit from the crush of calls that took place almost all day Tuesday following a malfunction that took the building’s entire phone system offline for several hours, with the system not reviving until almost 90 minutes after business hours began.
To help the effort, the Health Center pushed up its timeline for using MailChimp, a mass email notification system, to get people on the list. Residents, especially citizens ages 65 and up, can now sign up by calling the Public Health COVID-19 Hotline at 620-208-3741 or by going online to www.publichealth.lyoncounty.org.
Residents under age 65 using MailChimp will not be put on the master waitlist at this time, although they will receive notifications from the Health Center and Public Health. Residents using MailChimp also will not be slotted for vaccination appointments at this time. Hively says the MailChimp account is a separate tool from the health center’s online scheduling link used for the first two open pods last month.
The waitlist had 1,500 names as of Tuesday evening. Lyon County will vaccinate about 500 residents during a closed pod Friday at the Bowyer Community Building.
