COVID vaccination enters new phase in Wichita area with first county clinic at arena
Sedgwick County will launch a new phase of COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday, beginning with its first publicly run vaccination clinic.
On Tuesday morning, the county Health Department will begin distributing 10,000 doses of vaccine to area health care workers, starting with physicians and paramedics and proceeding through a prioritized order of care providers and medical office staff who have contact with patients.
While some medical staff in hospitals have already gotten their shots where they work, the new distribution over the next week will cast a much wider net to include professionals such as dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, and home-health and hospice workers.
The county is following Kansas state guidelines that call for distributing the new vaccines to health workers and institutional care homes first, said Health Director Adrienne Byrne.
“It’s going to take a while for the vaccine to plentiful enough for everybody, so we have to focus on the medical providers and then to get our way through vulnerable populations,” Byrne said.
There are about 1,000 physicians in Sedgwick County, Byrne said.
The new clinic was being set up Tuesday in the north concourse of Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita.
It’s designed to have as many as 20 vaccinators working at a time. They’ll be a mix of Health Department workers, contract workers and volunteers from the local medical community who are qualified to administer injections, Byrne said.
The clinic is starting on a schedule to get 15 people vaccinated every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. But that rate’s expected to rise as the Health Department works out any kinks in the system, Byrne said.
The vaccine to be administered at the county clinic was developed by the Moderna pharmaceutical company and is the second to receive government approval for safety and effectiveness.
Complete vaccination is a two-step process. People who receive the vaccine in the next few days will be scheduled for their booster shots in about three weeks.
Once the health care workers get their shots, the county will begin opening it to other groups at higher risk than the general population, although that order isn’t completely set yet, Byrne said.
Scheduling will be done online through the county’s website, www.sedgwickcounty.org. The initial vaccine recipients will need to show their medical credentials or work ID to prove they’re part of an eligible group.
Most of the shots will be given at the arena, although the Health Department will have to work around Thunder hockey games and other events there.
On game days, the vaccinations will move to a Health Department clinic at 2716 W. Central, Wichita, Byrne said.
Who can get vaccinated when?
The following chart shows the order in which health-care workers can schedule appointments to get vaccinated against the coronavirus:
ON OR AFTER DATE | HOURS OF OPERATION | LOCATION | ELIGIBLE WORKERS |
On 12/29/20 or after | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Physicians, Emergency Medical Service workers |
On 12/30/20 or after | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Registered Nurses; Physician’s Assistants; ARNPs; Lab Technicians; Phlebotomists; Occupational, Physical and Respiratory Therapists; or other staff who have patient contact and who work in an outpatient setting |
On 12/31/20 or after | 8 a.m. to noon | INTRUST Bank Arena | Dentists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Optometrists, Psychologists, and their staff who have patient contact |
On 1/2/21 or after | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Sedgwick County Health Dept. Clinic at 2716 W. Central, Wichita 67203 | Home Health and Hospice workers. |
On 1/4/21 or after | Noon to 5 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Therapists, Traveling Registered Nurses, Pharmacists, Death Care Associated Staff |
On 1/5/21 or after | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Any other health care associated workers who have patient contact |
On 1/6/21 or after | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Any health care associated workers previously listed in this table |
On 1/7/21 or after | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | INTRUST Bank Arena | Any health care associated workers previously listed in this table |
