Appointment-only COVID-19 vaccinations being offered this weekend at HADH clinic

From Staff Reports
Posted 1/28/21

Hermann Area District Hospital is offering appointment-only vaccinations on Saturday and Sunday in the fight against the COVID-19 virus.

Hermann Area District Hospital and the hospital’s …

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Appointment-only COVID-19 vaccinations being offered this weekend at HADH clinic

Posted

Hermann Area District Hospital is offering appointment-only vaccinations on Saturday and Sunday in the fight against the COVID-19 virus.

Hermann Area District Hospital and the hospital’s Southwest Medical Associates clinic across the street, in conjunction with other community partners, are finalizing plans for large scale weekend COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Hermann.

Vaccinations will be by appointment only, said Dan McKinney, the hospital’s administrator “and our current goal is to vaccinate 500 people per day.”

HADH is offering the Pfizer vaccine during appointment-specific times on Saturday, Jan. 30, and Sunday, Jan. 31.

“Missouri has authorized us to vaccinate people in Phase 1A, Phase 1B - Tier 1 and Phase 1B-Tier 2,” according to McKinney. “This includes all individuals over 65 as well as many adults with chronic health conditions.” 

To see if you qualify for this round of vaccinations, see the state health department’s website at health.mo.gov for full list of eligible individuals.

If you, or someone you care for, are in one of these groups, and are interested in being vaccinated, you must go to https://forms.gle/GnYpmh3QoKmXr4qW9 and leave your name and contact information.

“Like all organizations,” wrote McKinney in an email on Monday, “we are being overwhelmed with people asking about vaccination. PLEASE do not call the hospital or clinics to sign up for vaccination. Any calls we do receive will be directed to this (online) sign-up form.”

Those who qualify to obtain the vaccination will receive a confirmation call from the hospital’s staff, said McKinney. 

“Once you have filled out the sign-up form, our dedicated staff will contact you to set up a vaccine appointment,” McKinney continued. “We anticipate 975 doses arriving in the next few days, but we do not know exactly how much more vaccine we will receive or when. Please be patient with us as we work through the process of calling everyone.”

The hospital’s clinic has been the site for COVID-19 testing using the parking lot as a drive-through facility.

“This will be a monumental undertaking and we thank all of the staff and volunteers for giving up their weekend and all patients in advance for their patience and understanding,” said McKinney.

Currently, eligible individuals in the state of Missouri for COVID-19 vaccination include:

Phase 1A: Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff.

Phase 1B — Tier 1: First responders, emergency services, and public health infrastructure.

• Law enforcement, fire services, corrections, and certain social service agencies.

• Emergency management and public works: Federal, state, or local government employees in emergency management and public works agencies, identified nonprofit organizations designated as partner voluntary agencies.

• Emergency services sector: Employees defined in the emergency services sector not otherwise listed, including law enforcement, fire and rescue services, emergency medical services, emergency management, and public works.

Phase 1B — Tier 2: High-risk individuals including anyone aged 65 and older and adults with the following conditions:

• Cancer;

• Chronic kidney disease;

• COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

• Intellectual and/or developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome;

• Heart conditions such as heart failure, CAD (coronary artery disease); or,

• Cardiomyopathies; 

• Immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant; 

• Severe obesity (BMI>40kg/m2); 

• Pregnancy;

• Sickle cell disease; or, 

• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Individuals interested in vaccination, but not currently eligible, are welcome to leave their information, but will not be contacted until their phase/tier becomes eligible, according to McKinney.

McKinney noted that the Phase 1B-Tier list is extensive and there are many people eligible. Those seeking a vaccination at this time should review the complete list found at https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/pdf/so-vaccine-distribution-order.pdf.

Tracking the disease

While the county is receiving its first batch of vaccinations, state agencies tracking the disease continue to update the number of attributable deaths for the record.

Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services updated its Public Health Dashboard this past week to reflect a “weekly linkage between deaths to the state and death certificates” designed to “improve data quality and ensure all decedents that died of COVID-19 are reflected in the systems.”

The state’s Bureau of Vital Records will reflect that on Jan. 19, DHSS analyzed several death certificates and linked 156 COVID-19 associated deaths with the appropriate cases in the state’s disease surveillance system.

These 156 deaths, which had not already been reported to the state by another entity, will be captured and reported publicly through the dashboard as of today (Wednesday).

Seven of these deaths occurred in November, 109 occurred in December, and 40 occurred earlier this month.

According to DHSS, this weekly activity has been occurring since September and typically causes a sharp increase in the deaths added to Missouri’s total the following day. As a reminder, not all deaths reported each day occurred in the previous 24 hours. Once DHSS reports a death to the Bureau of Vital Records,  the death is assigned on the date that the death occurred, not when it was reported.

“At the state level, we are not currently reporting probable or pending deaths,” the DHSS noted in a release from Lisa Coz, communications director. “There are some instances when these deaths are reported out by local public health departments, but the information is not reported by DHSS until confirmed in our disease surveillance system either by the county or through analysis of death certificates.”