Local health departments across the state, including the Knox County Health Department, will offer limited walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations to patients without appointments.
Starting next week, the health department will give shots to the first 100 people who arrive between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays at the North Broadway clinic. No appointment is required.
Dr. Lisa Piercey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, said Tuesday that the statewide effort is an example of increasing vaccine access and should simplify the process for people who have trouble scheduling a timeslot online or over the phone.
The Knox County Health Department asks that those who are interested respect the walk-in hours due to the logistics of vaccine management with these particular vaccines. The health department will evaluate the walk-in availability and adjust as needed in the coming weeks.
After a two-week pause, providers across the country including the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have resumed use of Johnson & Johnson s COVID-19 vaccine.
The single shot is an easier-to-use tool for fighting the pandemic in places like college campuses because patients are vaccinated in one shot.
Dr. Spencer Gregg, director of UT s Student Health Center, told Knox News he hoped to vaccinate as many people as possible by the end of the spring semester using Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines. Exams end May 6.
However, the temporary stop has made a significant difference in patients willingness to get the vaccine and how the university will dole out doses.
Volunteers at the East Knoxville Free Medical Clinic inside Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church are the primary care providers for many people. Originally founded because no medical care was available within a 3-mile radius, the clinic has become a beacon for those who are uninsured, have Medicaid or Medicare or can t afford hospital bills.
Those in need of care come from across the county or from right across the road to get help.
Inside physicians, nurses, pharmacists and University of Tennessee, Knoxville medical students hustle through the hall with armfuls of files as patients sit in scattered chairs along the walls, waiting for their names to be called.