Pace Improves On 2nd Day Of Weekend Vaccination Clinics
More than 11,100 people have been vaccinated for COVID-19 at weekend clinics held in Georgetown and Delaware City DMV locations.
The pace picked up Sunday after Saturday’s events, which resulted in many people with appointments sitting in their cars for hours. Delaware Public Health said people were showing up without appointments, and many who had appointments had not completed their pre-vaccination screening online.
Also, the cold weather was causing technology issues.
DPH adjusted by sending e-mail reminders to people with Sunday appointments, adding state troopers for traffic control, and having additional laptops, IT personnel and generators available in Delaware City. Georgetown switched to a paper-based record-keeping procedure.
“The issues Saturday were not what we planned, not what we wanted to see, and certainly not what we wanted our residents to experience. Our hardworking volunteers and staff stayed more than 3 hours later than scheduled Saturday to vaccinate all those with appointments, and then the DPH team and our partners worked into the night to identify the issues and take steps to improve things for Sunday,” DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay said. “Sunday went much more smoothly and was more the event we intended to have. It was a learning experience and, most importantly, we extended the first dose of vaccine protection to more than 11,000 Delawareans.”
Most of the people who were vaccinated were in the 1-B category, which includes people age 65 and older. Some frontline employees in 1-A also received the vaccine.
The state is expected to hold more smaller community vaccination events, and is expanding the number of pharmacies and primary care providers who will have the vaccine.
Rattay also recognized partners in the vaccination effort:
- Beebe Healthcare
- ChristianaCare
- DelDOT
- Delaware Emergency Management Agency
- Delaware Medical Reserve Corps
- Delaware National Guard
- Delaware State Police
- Department of Technology and Information
- Individual volunteers and staff
- New Castle County EMS
- Sussex County EMS
For more information about the vaccine in Delaware, CLICK HERE
