After getting her COVID-19 vaccination today, Nicole Garner said she was glad she did.
Garner, a Unified Government Health Department employee, said she was a little nervous before getting the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination at the Health Department’s site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State. She spoke during a Zoom meeting Wednesday afternoon.
She said she did her research on the vaccine, and for her, the vaccine is “about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“I’m very excited, elated, not only for myself but for the community,” she said. She urged people to research the vaccine and then to get it.
“Don’t be afraid,” she advised others who are considering whether to get a vaccine.
This vaccine can impact the community in a number of ways, she said. Getting the vaccine is a way to bring back the normalcy that everyone wants to happen, she added.
As a person of color, it was important to her to lead by example, she said.
Fifty-four vaccines were given today to health care workers at the Health Department, according to Bob Bennett, COVID-19 vaccine operations director with the UG Health Department.
Bianca Garcia, also a Health Department employee who just received the vaccine, said she was a little nervous, but, like Garner, she had done some research about the vaccine’s development and side effects before receiving it.
Garcia said the team was incredibly welcoming and friendly, and it was reassuring that someone was monitoring them afterward for 15 minutes in case anyone had a reaction.
“It was not an easy thing to make a decision to come and do, but it’s the important thing for us to move forward as a society and combat the virus head on,” Garcia said.
She said she really wants the vaccinations to be the thing that brings them to the end of the pandemic.
The first person at the Health Department to get a vaccine today was volunteer Curt Robinson, who has volunteered at the Health Department since last spring. He has been greeting people who come in to the testing and vaccine site at the former Kmart building. Robinson said it was an honor to be a participant in the launch of vaccinations.
“I think this is something we really all need to do to stop this pandemic from going on,” Robinson said. “I want to help the community.”
He said he thinks everyone should get the vaccine because it’s going to help the community in a big way.
Mayor David Alvey said the effort to get the testing and vaccination site running showed the dedication of the UG and its employees to provide this service to the community. Many departments were involved in getting the site running. He said the UG was out in front of other metro area communities in providing this service.
“This is a great sign of hope for us, because we waited so long for us to try and get back to normal,” Alvey said.
The stay-at-home order and mask order were necessary to protect residents and their loved ones, and prevent community spread, he said. Wyandotte County has a very high case rate, with 50 percent higher than surrounding communities, he said, so Wyandotte County had a special interest in this. Also, many residents have to be out on the front lines working, so they are exposed to the virus, he added.
The mayor said he is looking forward to his turn to get the vaccine.
“If we just each person take responsibility to neither get nor give the virus, we can get back to normal so much sooner,” Mayor Alvey said.
He thanked the residents and businesses of Wyandotte County who have really taken a hit from the pandemic.
“We’re fighting back now, and the vaccine is our best opportunity to fight back,” he said.
Juliann Van Liew, Health Department director, said it’s hard to put into words what this means for a team of people who have worked constantly for the last 10 months.
For them, it’s about the public’s health, protecting Wyandotte County and moving forward, she said.
“It’s also about us as human beings,” Van Liew said. “The staff of the Health Department are also mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers.”
On a personal, professional and public health level, it’s an incredible moment of hope for them, she said.
“This is truly a testament to what can be built in a short amount of time if you have a team that has a shared goal and wants to get it done,” she said. “And they have done just that.”
She said the former Kmart building is a beautiful site that is ready to receive hundreds of people a day within the next few weeks, then they will be ready to add two other sites as well, to make sure the vaccine is geographically available to the population.
“This is about giving Wyandotte residents what they deserve, which is the best,” she said, and as soon as they can get it.
Mayor Alvey said as soon as the Health Department receives more guidance from the state on the rollout of the vaccines, they will move forward.
In the first group of those who receive vaccines are health care workers who are most at risk and long-term care facility staff and residents.
They want to get the vaccine to the front-line emergency medical personnel and first responders, those who are most at risk, he said.
As more vaccine becomes available, they will continue to expand it, he said.
Bennett said they are currently focusing on vaccinating health care providers, and that next week, they will be vaccinating EMS and many front-line essential responders, especially those who have been going to homes to help transport COVID-19 patients to the hospital.
They will get ready to inoculate many medical professionals, he said. Hospitals are inoculating their own staff members.
The Health Department is planning to give the vaccinations to doctors, nurses, janitorial staff and office workers from the local doctors’ offices and clinics, Bennett said. From there they will continue with the CDC guidance, he said.
Van Liew said everything is still up in the air at this time on the vaccination schedules in the next phases.
If the Health Department gets weekly allocations of vaccines, which appears likely within the next few weeks, then they can move into that phase in mid to late January to vaccinate age 75 and older, specific sectors in the essential workforce, educators and child care workers, with a few other categories, she said.
“We have to follow the guidelines put out by KDHE, we have to wait so we know specifically what they’re going to require,” Van Liew said.
She said she’s hoping next week they can vaccinate 800 to 1,000 health care workers and EMS staff, then do another 1,000 in the following week. They want to have 2,000 to 2,500 completed by the second week of January, she added.
Health care workers in Wyandotte County may contact the Health Department to get on the list, she said. The Health Department is using lists from their resources, and also lists from the various medical associations in the state, to identify people and let them know that they can be vaccinated, according to Van Liew.
She added they know they’ll miss some providers, and health care workers can call the Health Department, let them know they need a vaccine, and they will be directed in the right direction. People can call the 311 information number in Wyandotte County and can reach the Health Department from there.
When the Health Department’s site at 78th and State opens again on Monday morning, they will be ready with hundreds of doses for health care workers and EMS staff, Van Liew said.
Mayor Alvey said public access was very important in selection of a vaccine site, and there is a bus stop on State Avenue in front of the Kmart building. Public transit access was a concern of a local group of pastors that are advising the mayor and Health Department, he said.
As they move to other sites later, public transit access also will be part of the consideration, he said.
Van Liew said the Health Department will be using every means available to let people know when vaccines are available to the public. There will be announcements in traditional media, social media and announcements to specific populations, she said. On Tuesday they had a constructive meeting with the Area Agency on Aging, on how to reach the 75 and older population.
Mayor Alvey wanted residents to know that “the virus itself is the enemy.” The community must do what it can to stop the virus, he said, because it’s the virus bringing the pain to people, not other people causing it.
He said he was “very hopeful of what we’re going to be able to accomplish with widespread adoption of the vaccination.”
A video of the Zoom meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgZvfwTfgwM.
