Last month, local hospitals received their first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine. Now, St. Joseph County Department of Health is awaiting its first shipment, which is scheduled to arrive next week.
Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox said the health department expects to receive 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by Monday, Jan. 11. The department plans to start administering those shots the following Tuesday.
Fox says it’s not exactly clear who local health departments should be vaccinating, but he says St. Joseph County will start with first responders.
“The group that clearly has been identified is police and fire, EMTs and things," Fox said. "These first responders are all getting registration links.”
Going forward, Fox said the health department should receive a weekly shipment of about 600 doses. At that rate, he says the department can vaccinate around 125 people per day.
Fox expects that vaccine allotment to increase toward spring, meaning the health department will need more volunteers to direct traffic, process paperwork and administer shots.
“We’ve had a tremendous response already, so we need a mixture of people with a clinical background and non-clinical folks,” Fox said.
You can sign up to volunteer with the county's vaccination effort using this form.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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