By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
SAVANNAH - The Andrew County Health Department is set to vaccinate nearly 2,000 people on Friday at a mass COVID-19 vaccine clinic - the first of its kind in northwest Missouri.
Andrew County is part of Region H - a 15-county cluster in the northwest part of the state.
Jayne White and Andrew Hoffman, who are employed by the Andrew County Health Department, signed a contract to become the Regional Implementation Team leads across the entire northwest region.
"We partnered with Blair Shock, (the administrator), from the Clinton County Health Department to help us with this endeavor, too" White said.
White, the Public Nurse Manager for Andrew County's Health Department, had a week to plan the first mass COVID vaccination clinic in Region H with Hoffman, who's the Andrew County health department administrator.
They also partnered with the Missouri National Guard, Andrew County Sheriff's office, the Savannah Police Department and several other agencies to run and coordinate the event.
The first mass clinic will be in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Savannah. It's a drive-thru event, in which people had to make an appointment in advance.
Any Missourian in Phase 1a and 1b can sign up. This includes medical personnel, residents of long-term care, anyone 65 or older and adults considered to be at high-risk.
White says there'll be mass vaccination clinics like this across the region on a weekly basis for people who couldn't get a shot this first time around.
"In every Highway Patrol Troop region, there's a large, mass vaccination clinic every week," she said. "So, every week there'll be one in Region H. Next week, it'll be somewhere else. By the fourth week, we'll be back here in Savannah to do the second dose and potentially some first doses for individuals."
Region H has a total of 1,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for this Friday's event. Much like the rest of Missouri, vaccine distribution has been slow in Andrew County.
Andrew County received 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine earlier this month to administer to medical workers and long-term care residents. Those individuals will receive their second dosage next week.
"We keep putting orders in and keep hoping that we get some," White said. "This is huge, though. This RIT team is huge, because we know there's access to vaccine somewhere in Region H."
Previously, the Andrew County Health Department had a vaccine waiting list. The list did not guarantee an appointment, but health officials made one attempt to call people on the list age 65 or older when vaccine became available.
That effort alone was labor intensive, and White says the wait list will not be opened back up.
"My staff has been calling all day," White said. "Probably eight hour days since last Friday. That's a huge thing and the phone is constantly ringing. That's a tough thing to do. Plus, the state is setting up a system to help with registration and things like that, so that's what people will want to be watching for.
"We will keep people notified through Facebook and the media about events that are coming up. As we move forward, they'll be able to sign up that way."
White says many of the rural hospitals and health departments in Region H don't have the sufficient supplies or staffing to distribute the COVID vaccine in mass quantities.
The Tri-County Health Department, for example, has three total nurses trying to coordinate and administer vaccine in DeKalb, Gentry and Worth counties.
The hope now, though, is that these weekly mass clinics will help those who've had difficulty getting access to a COVID vaccination.
"It's an attempt to get vaccine out to these communities and to be able to do it in large quantities," White said. "Some of our rural hospitals don't have the staff or manpower to get this much vaccine out at a time."
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