The Boone County Health Dept.’s 4-H Fairgrounds COVID-19 vaccination clinic is near capacity now that the state is allotting 2,200 doses of Moderna’s vaccine to the clinic each week, said Abby Messenger, the BCHD’s environmental health specialist.
“Right now, we’ve kind of hit our max unless we get more volunteers for vaccinators or if we try to extend a little more on the days that we’re there for a little bit shorter of a time,” Messenger said during an April 5 Boone County Commissioners meeting. “Right now, we’re at the max for what we’ve got. I can’t thank our volunteers enough. We wouldn’t be anywhere without them. They’ve put hundreds of hours into this, and it’s crazy to see them all come back every week. We’re very thankful.”
Until last week, when the state opened vaccine eligibility to Indiana residents 16 and older, the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds vaccination clinic received 1,300 doses of Moderna’s vaccine each week.
Dr. Herschell Servies, the county’s health officer, said during the meeting that nearly all appointments at the BCHD’s vaccination clinic are booked until mid-May.
Messenger said volunteers at the clinic have allowed the BCHD to administer vaccines at a pace of one vaccine per minute. Because of the increased allotment, she said the clinic has reached capacity, unless more vaccines are sent to the department. If more are sent, she said more volunteers would be needed.
Messenger said the department is not in need of additional volunteers to staff its clinic, but she said interested residents can apply to volunteer at boonemrc.com in case the department is allotted more doses.
As of April 5, Boone County had fully vaccinated 16,136 Indiana residents and partially vaccinated 23,643 residents. The BCHD fairgrounds clinic had vaccinated 13,807 Indiana residents as of April 5.
The BCHD also has scheduled a clinic April 10 that will administer only Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine. All appointments for the special clinic are booked, health officials said. The department plans to administer 500 doses that day.
