Vaccines arrive at local clinic
By Melinda L. Lucas
& Sandy Morris
An Albany clinic started administering the Moderna vaccine Wednesday, and with at least 200 more doses expected in the next week, ResourceCare staff members hope to work their way down the list of those who want the vaccine.
Even though some county residents have already received the vaccine in other locations, quite a few are still waiting for their names to come up.
According to ResourceCare chief operating officer Vickie Street, local front-line health care workers who want the vaccine have received at least their first dose. Next in priority are high risk patients and then patients over the age of 65.
“High risk patients include people with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or asthma,” Street said. “When a patient has a combination of two conditions, such as high blood pressure and asthma, they automatically have an elevated risk factor.”
Street also stated that once a person has received the first vaccine, a refill is automatically triggered for the second dose to be available in 28 days.
Meanwhile, at the Shackelford County Health Clinic, administrator Jera Fairley is still looking for the 200 vaccines they requested.
She added that SCHC is not taking names until they find out for sure that they are receiving doses.
The number of positive COVID tests reported in Shackelford County has been trending downward for the last few weeks, according to county judge Robert Skelton.
“There were more than 35 positive cases four weeks ago while only 17 have been reported in the last 14 days,” Skelton said on Monday. “This is a reason to be optimistic, but we cannot get too comfortable. Things can change in a hurry.”
For more information about eligibility or to get on a list for a COVID vaccine, county citizens are encouraged to contact a local clinic first before reaching out to other area facilities. Residents can go to a link on the shackelfordcounty.org website to find area options for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
