At Waban Park on Saturday morning, volunteers working the flu clinic staging area called out to passing cars, “Flu shots! Get your flu shots here!”
Volunteer Judy Sylvia said it reminded her of being a young girl growing up on the Vineyard selling drinks on the bike path with her friends.
“We’re giving out flu shots like it’s Kool-Aid,” Ms. Sylvia said with a smile behind her mask.
Waban Park was one of two staging areas set up for Saturday’s Island-wide flu clinic — the other staging area was at the Agricultural Hall grounds in West Tisbury. The flu shots were administered at the regional high school.
The one-day clinic was organized through a partnership between the Island boards of health, Island Health Care and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Island health agents Maura Valley, Meegan Lancaster and Omar Johnson all agreed Saturday’s clinic was important for the Island.
“This is something that we absolutely have to do, especially in light of Covid,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. Johnson and Ms. Lancaster both noted that several times over the course of the morning the line of cars waiting to register stretched around the animal barn at the Ag Hall and around the south side of Waban Park. However, even with the backup the longest it took for a car to get through registration was about 15 minutes, the health agents said.
“The morning rush was great, we had a nice line of cars moving through,” Mr. Johnson said.
During the course of four hours 431 flu vaccines were administered.
The flu clinic was modeled after post-9/11 disaster preparedness drills and proved to be a successful test of the Island’s emergency readiness.
“This year with Covid and the possibility of having to administer those vaccines we thought it was good to dust off the plans so we’re good to go,” Ms. Valley said.
When the clinic ended at 1 p.m., Ms. Valley said the final count of 431 vaccines was more than they’ve administered in the past few years.
“We’ve got a good chunk of the Island vaccinated,” Ms. Valley said.
Comments
Comment policy »