UofL increases vaccine accessibility with pop-up sites

After being the first to receive a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Kentucky,... — After being the first to receive a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Kentucky, Dr. Jason Smith and four of his fellow frontline workers rolled up their sleeves for their booster shots.

UofL Health has decided to allocate some of their doses of COVID-19 vaccine to an outreach... — UofL Health has decided to allocate some of their doses of COVID-19 vaccine to an outreach program that reaches people in underserved communities.(Source: WAVE 3 News)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The University of Louisville Healthcare System typically receives about 4,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine each week, distributing about 2,000 shots for a first dose and 2,000 for the booster shot. Just last week, they received an additional 3,000 doses.

UofL Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jason Smith, was the first healthcare worker to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Kentucky in December. Since then, Dr. Smith said hospital staff have administered thousands of shots to healthcare workers every week. So far, about 80% of their healthcare workers have been vaccinated.

Now, the healthcare system will allocate some of their doses to an outreach program that reaches people in underserved communities.

“Getting the vaccine out to folks who need it the most,” Dr. Smith said. “Because if you look across those zip codes, if you look across those communities, they’ve suffered a significant amount of disease burden from COVID-19. And we need to have the vaccine deployment match where the disease is that’s our best chance of making sure that we can interrupt process and care for those who need the most care.”

UofL Health will open the first of many COVID-19 pop-up vaccination sites at Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center on Friday, February 19. So far, he said about 800 people have signed up. Therefore, workers may be administered the vaccine over the course of several days.

A person does not be to be a member of the church to received a COVID-19 vaccine. However, only those in group 1A or 1B are eligible.

In Kentucky, Group 1A includes long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, and health care personnel. Group 1B includes anyone age 70 or older, first responders, Kentucky K-12 school personnel and Kentucky child care workers.

Dr. Smith said this outreach program is focusing on areas with the highest outbreak of COVID-19, such as West Louisville, South Louisville, and other parts of the Metro area.

Find more about their efforts by clicking here.