Vaccinations will continue on a more consistent basis in Sedalia throughout February as Bothwell Regional Health Center has been selected as a high throughput vaccinator as part of Missouri’s new vaccine distribution plan.
According to a news release, Bothwell is scheduled to receive additional vaccine doses in February to accommodate administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the community and surrounding areas. Appointments scheduled through this effort will receive the Moderna vaccine.
Bothwell has been designated as a High Distribution Health Center for Region A, which also includes Cass Regional Medical Center, Fitzgibbon Hospital and Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare. According to Bothwell CEO Lori Wightman, Region A will get 4,800 doses next week, which the four hospitals decided to divide evenly, meaning Bothwell will receive 1,200 doses. The majority of Missouri’s vaccine allocation for February will be going to HDHCs across the state.
Wightman told the Democrat on Friday it is “absolutely” significant that Bothwell was chosen as part of this February vaccine plan, noting they are “so grateful.” She said the state looked at infection rate, access to vaccine, where the population of Tier 2 lives and the capability of health centers to administer vaccines.
On Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, 500 doses will be administered by appointment only at the MO-Ag Theatre on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. Without assistance this time around from the Missouri Air National Guard, Bothwell will be relying more heavily on its own staff. The Pettis County Ambulance District will again be on scene and Rotary Club members will be helping with parking. Bothwell Auxiliary members will help as well. Members of the Sedalia Fire Department may also assist if available.
Bothwell will also disperse 200 doses to its clinics in Warsaw and Cole Camp for patients who are unable to travel to Sedalia.
In mid-February, the four Region A hospitals will reconvene to distribute any unused vaccine and to determine the allocation for the next 4,800 doses in late February.
Wightman said she has already agreed to send 500 doses from the second February shipment to Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg, as Johnson County has not received many doses to date.
“We also have a responsibility besides getting shots in arms to look at partners in the region to see how can we work with them,” Wightman said. “That’s why for Warrensburg I said absolutely, we’ve got to share what we’re getting.”
According to Wightman, 2,309 people were vaccinated over the three-day mass vaccination event hosted last week on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in conjunction with the National Guard, State Emergency Management Agency, Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Management Agency, PCAD, Pettis County Health Center and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. She said 2% of people who had an appointment were either a no show or could not get the COVID vaccine due to receiving another type of vaccine in the last 14 days. She said all doses were distributed and there were people who received the vaccine without an appointment “because we didn’t want to waste any vaccine.” Once prepared for administration, the vaccine must be used in six hours.
Wightman said they learned that requiring appointments is key to keeping the vaccine sites running smoothly and that her team learned a lot about logistics from the National Guard.
“We made changes as we went, had debriefs every day,” she said. “I don’t know how it could’ve gone any better.”
The lessons learned last week will be applied to the upcoming clinics on a smaller scale. A small clinic was hosted Wednesday and a combined 875 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were administered. That day, there was a 0.9% no-show rate.
Bothwell is sticking to the state’s guidelines and only administering vaccines to those who are eligible in Phase 1A and Phase 1B Tiers 1 and 2. Wightman said she can count on one hand the number of people who received a vaccine that wasn’t in those groups. In those cases, she said staff members had called all other eligible people who pre-registered and they weren’t able to attend the event, so it was given to someone in Tier 3 to avoid wasting vaccine.
Wightman said the majority of people receiving the vaccine in Sedalia have lived within a 50-mile radius. Anyone in Missouri can register to receive a vaccine from Bothwell, but Wightman said priority is given to people in the region.
“If you are in an eligible tier and registered, we’re calling you and giving you an appointment,” she said. “The whole goal is to get shots in arms as fast as we get vaccine, but vaccine remains the constraint in all of this. The state is going to get a 5% increase in Moderna this next week. Already this week there was a 15% addition. It’s not going up dramatically, and we’re hearing from the state the supply is not anticipated to dramatically improve until March. That is why the state came up with the strategy of focusing on these mass vaccination events with the National Guard and using the power of health systems.”
Later this month, the National Guard will return to help with the second doses for the 2,309 people who were vaccinated last week.
Wightman said it is crucial for patients to show up to their second-dose appointment. The state will handle ordering the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine for the National Guard based on who was vaccinated last week. She said they won’t be able to easily call other people on the registration list to fill missed spots like for the first dose.
“What messes things up is when all of those 2,309 people don’t show up to get their second dose and now you have extra doses,” Wightman said. “You don’t want to waste it but you don’t want a whole bunch of people you’re giving first shots to with a (designated) second dose because then you don’t know for sure if you’ll have enough of the second dose (for those who already received the first dose last week). … Where is that second dose (for those new people) coming from because the state won’t order that automatically.”
Despite the stress and the high number of people needed to run the clinics, Wightman said she hasn’t talked to anyone involved “who hasn’t said that this is so rewarding.”
“Some people we’re calling for appointments are crying because they’re so thankful, so relieved they’re going to get vaccinated,” she added. “Those over 65 or adults with health issues are desperate to get a vaccination, this is a group that really wants to be vaccinated. They say that when they’re at the MO-Ag Theater it’s gone well, and it’s a privilege to be part of that. It makes hard work fun.”
Individuals who are interested in receiving the vaccine are encouraged to fill out the online registration form at www.brhc.org/vaccine. Paper forms are also available at any Bothwell location or can be printed from the website, including a Spanish version, and returned to any Bothwell location, emailed to covidvacform@brhc.org, or mailed to Bothwell Regional Health Center ATTN: Vaccine Registration 601 E. 14th St., Sedalia, MO 65301.
