Sedgwick County lowers age restrictions on COVID vaccine to 70
The Sedgwick County Health Department has opened its COVID-19 vaccination program to anyone 70 or older, a five-year reduction in age restrictions.
Outside of health care workers, who were the first to receive the vaccine, the county has tied eligibility to age. It is scheduling appointments for walk-in or drive-through vaccines for people with mobility issues.
Sedgwick County is offering first doses of the vaccine to anyone in the 70-and-up age group who lives or works in the county, according to a Friday morning news release.
All vaccines by the county health department are by appointment only Monday-Saturday. To book an appointment, visit sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/vaccine/schedule/ or call 316-660-1029.
The county health department has two vaccination clinics:
▪ Walk-in clinic: Intrust Bank Arena, 500 E. Waterman
▪ Drive-through clinic: Wichita Transit Operations Center, 777 E. Waterman
The wait time after arrival at the vaccination center is running between one hour and 90 minutes, plus 15 minutes waiting time after receiving the shot to watch for potential adverse reactions. County officials caution to try to show up as close to the scheduled appointment time as possible, and not more than 15 minutes before.
“We’ve had a few people show up at 8 a.m. when their appointment was at 11,” said county spokeswoman Kate Flavin. “We really want to avoid that.”
Vaccinations will be administered as scheduled on Monday, at both the walk-in and drive-through sites, despite the Presidents Day holiday and the likelihood of below-zero temperatures, Flavin said.
At the drive-through, staff hours will be staggered so that those administering the vaccines will work for an hour and then get an hour to go inside the office at the bus barn and warm up.
That’s already been accounted for in the scheduling of appointments, so there should be no noticeable difference for vaccine recipients, Flavin said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 9:35 AM.