As of April 9 all adults in Missouri are eligible for vaccinations to help prevent the COVID-19 virus. Hermann Area District Hospital and its clinics are asking people interested in being vaccinated to give them your contact information through their website www.hadh.org.

The hospital and its clinics are planning for the staging of a large-scale vaccination clinic likely on Saturday, April 10, if all goes well.

There is a sign up button at the top of the page. Or you can go to the link https://forms.gle/GnYpmh3QoKmXr4qW9 to register.

“If we have sufficient community interest, and can get vaccine, we would ideally like to hold a large-scale vaccination event, 1,000 to 1,200 doses, on Saturday, April 10,” according to Ellen Schaumberg, director of clinic operations for HADH. “Like our other events, this will be by appointment only and we will call people to set up those appointments.” 

If you have already registered on the Missouri COVID-19 Vaccine Navigator site, you will need to register on the HADH site. Schaumburg  Schaumberg noted there continue to be ongoing problems with using the Navigator platform to get people registered for type of large-scale vaccination clinic the hospital operates.

Also, she said, if you had previously signed up on the HADH list and have since been vaccinated elsewhere, you are asked to call HADH at 573-486-2118 to have your name removed from the list.

“This will help us be more efficient as we call to make vaccine appointments,” she said. “Finally, we also ask that if you have a scheduled appointment for vaccination, either with us or another facility, please keep that appointment, as we are all working very hard to not have vaccine wastage.”

The announcement of the clinic through HADH comes as COVID-19 infection rates in Gasconade County saw a drop in both new cases and the seven-day rate using PCR testing.

“There were only six new diagnoses in our county last week — fewest new diagnosis over seven days since July,” according to Dr. Michael Rothermich  “Of note, all of those positive tests were PCR — six positive out of 106 tests — while all 83 rapid antigen tests last week on residents of our county were negative.”

Rothermich, chief of staff at HADH, also noted that as he was writing his weekly report to the media that Gasconade County was sixth in the state for vaccination rate. “Twenty-seven percent of our residents have at least started their vaccination series, which is awesome!”  he wrote. “And Montgomery County is only a little behind at 24 percent. However, according to state records, we still have just under 11,000 Gasconade County residents who have not yet had a vaccine.”

Rothermich said the hospital’s most recent list has just over 400 people seeking a vaccine. The list is being updated now through the website and registration link listed above.

“If you or someone you know from around here is interested in being vaccinated, please submit contact information at www.hadh.org (button at the top) as soon as possible,” Rothermich wrote. “If we don’t have enough people from our area interested in vaccination, we will soon begin offering it to folks from further away. Unfortunately we are not sure when — or if — we will be able to offer a clinic like this again.”