LAWRENCE, Kan. — More than 1,300 second dose vaccines were administered at the Douglas County Fairgrounds mass vaccination site Friday.
“We get our allotment of vaccine and within literally a handful of hours, it's out the door," said Dan Partridge, director at Lawrence Douglas County Public Health.
The drive-thru clinic is a well oiled machine, staffed by more than 60 health officials and over 100 volunteers.
“You get your shot, you stay in the car and once you're done, you drive out and then we have a couple of staging areas to the east where you wait for that 15 minutes and we monitor you," Partridge said.
On Wednesdays, providers at the clinic administer first doses and on Fridays, second doses of the vaccine.
Folks at the Douglas County Fairgrounds are receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/0Wb6SMu5KJ
— McKenzie Nelson (@McKenzieMNelson) March 5, 2021
No vaccine has gone to waste and Partridge believes the model could do more, if they were given enough doses.
“If we could get the vaccine, I think we could get everyone vaccinated in about six to eight days," Partridge said.
More vaccine and more volunteers are needed as the vaccination clinics continue on.
“We can only have so many cars go through the fairgrounds at any given time, based on the real estate. And so the longer the shifts get, the more volunteers we need because we realize, not everybody wants to stand around at a vaccine clinic for eight to 12 hours, so we will need to build in shifts likely at some point, so we'll need more volunteers for that and if we start doing multiple days," said Jillian Rodrigue, Douglas County Emergency Management deputy director.
Kansas is currently in Phase 2 of its vaccine rollout, and Gov. Laura Kelly said she hopes Phase 3 will come soon.
“We know that there are some counties that feel they have finished with Phase 2 and are anxious to move into Phase. We're asking them to hold back on that," Kelly said.
Kelly said the state wants to ensure other counties are able to finish Phase 2 and keep the state on the same path. If not, Kelly said some counties could get overwhelmed by people looking for the vaccine outside of their home county.
At the Douglas County location, a lot of their effort goes toward ensuring eligible people are on site to get the vaccine.
“Pay attention to what phase you're in and do your best to follow the process," Partridge said.
