State Health Department Rolls Out ‘Vaccine Vans’ For Oklahoma’s Rural Areas
The state health department are rolling out a way to give out the COVID vaccine rural areas. Different counties are now using vaccine vans travel anywhere to give the shot. So, this is an opportunity to go to the community and go to the people we need to serve, Kristen Carollo with the Oklahoma State Health Department said. She said Oklahoma s rural areas have fewer vaccines options, so they re driving the shots to them. We are currently taking our mobile units are mobile vans out at different locations such as grocery stores maybe hotels or apartments or even at food pantries. This is so that way, people who might not necessarily want to make an appointment can still access the vaccine, Corollo said.
Muskogee Health Department’s Newly Restored Facility Aids Vaccine Distribution
The Muskogee Health Department is ramping up its COVID-19 vaccine distribution, with over 1,200 people getting their second doses.
The department in Muskogee is in charge of vaccinating Oklahomans across at least eight counties and now, their building is newly restored. Kristen Carollo, spokesperson for District 7 of the State Health department said the improvements were in the works before COVID-19, but the facility now works perfectly for giving the vaccines. It s actually a blessing to have this completed. This part of our building which is the west entrance it s actually been undergoing renovation during most of this time, and we haven t been able to use that, Carollo said.
By Cathy Spaulding / cspaulding@muskogeephoenix Dec 17, 2020
Dec 17, 2020
Saint Francis Hospital Muskogee Director of Acute Care Services, Kim Walton, RN, fills out paperwork before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. CATHY SPAULDING/Muskogee Phoenix
Emergency health care workers lined up inside Saint Francis Hospital Muskogee on Wednesday to get the county s first COVID-19 vaccinations. I think our emergency department providers are on the front line, and they don t always know when somebody presents, whether they have COVID or not, said Kim Walton, RN, the hospital s emergency room and ICU director.Â
The hospital received 390 vials of the vaccine, with six doses per vial, said Kristen Carollo, public information officer for Oklahoma Health Department District 7. She said that means 2,340 possible doses for Phase 1. During Phase 1, vaccines are available to health care workers providing direct inpatient COV