Patients recieve COVID-19 vaccinations at the vaccination stations on Sept. 8, 2021, at the MU Women's and Children's Hospital Permanent Vaccine Clinic in Columbia, Mo. If patients had anxiety or medical emergencies there was a hospital bed set up in the clinic.
MU Health Care opened a new COVID-19 vaccination site at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Aug. 24. Aside from providing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to anyone over age 12 and the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine to anyone over 18, the site is also offering vaccine boosters to certain eligible populations like immunocompromised people, according to an MU Health Care press release.
The site opened in response to rising Delta variant cases and an increased demand for vaccinations. Tom Greenlee, MU Health Care retail pharmacy manager, said a major reason MU Health Care opened the new site was to ensure adequate space for when more people become eligible for the vaccine and its booster shots.
“There’s the discussion nationally about boosters for all,” Greenlee said. “There’s also the possibility at some point that some of these vaccines may become indicated for pediatric patients, so we just needed to have a place sized appropriately so that we can take care of those eligible patient populations. When those moments come we don’t want to be left scrambling last minute, trying to set something up.”
MU Health Care’s preparation for booster doses comes after the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a plan on Aug. 18 to provide booster doses for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines this fall. Health care providers can now offer the shots to eligible populations who received their second vaccine dose at least eight months ago, according to the CDC.
The CDC is recommending people get their booster shot in a similar order as the first COVID-19 vaccinations, with health care workers, immunocompromised people and older populations first in line. Anyone with a physician recommendation can also qualify for a booster dose at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital vaccine site, Greenlee said.
“The list the CDC put together is not exhaustive,” Greenlee said. “If a patient’s physician feels that they meet the criteria to qualify as immunocompromised, with a physician recommendation they can get vaccinated as well.”
For people who still need to get vaccinated, the site is offering the first two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as well as the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, to anyone who meets the vaccines’ age requirements. Athena Bouras, MU Health Care practice manager, said the site is primarily vaccinating people by appointment for the safety of staff and other patients.
“We are scheduling appointments, just because we want to make sure that we have space to allow social distancing,” Bouras said. “So I think it’s just important to keep our patients and our staff safe.”
So far, the vaccination site has seen a high turnout, with 342 people vaccinated on the week of Sep. 19, an MU Health Care spokesperson said. As the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines seek further FDA approval, Jeanette Linebaugh, MU Health Care senior director for Ambulatory Care Services, said she hopes to see the public’s confidence in the vaccine rise.
“I’m hopeful that the recent FDA approval of Pfizer for 16 and above will increase the confidence in folks to get vaccinated,” Linebaugh said. “And we anticipate, obviously, an increase [in turnout] when boosters become available for all populations.”
In preparation for flu season, the site is also offering the opportunity to get a flu shot at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine. The Women’s and Children’s Hospital is located at 404 N. Keene St. Appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine, flu shots or booster shots can be scheduled online at the MU Health Care website.
Edited by Namratha Prasad, nprasad@themaneater.com