Kentucky’s largest mass vaccination site shuts down

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Operations at Kentucky’s largest mass vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium came to a close on Friday.

UofL Health opened the Cardinal Stadium site in early April. Initially, it operated at close to full capacity, distributing nearly 4,000 doses a day. However, as time went on, demand dropped. During its final days of operation, less than 200 people a day were showing up to get the shot.

Site volunteers vaccinated close to 30,000 people in all during the vaccine site’s run, which Associate Chief Medical Officer at UofL Hospital Dr. Hugh Shoff called a success.

“We would’ve liked to see it running 4,000 (doses) a day, but I’m not disappointed,” Shoff said. “We did exactly what we wanted to do and vaccinated a lot of people.”

Now that the site at Cardinal Stadium is closed, UofL Health will shift gears and move the vaccines into clinic settings.

“Now is the chance to make it easier for people, maybe at their physician’s office (or) urgent care as an option adjunctive to the care they’re getting that day,” Shoff said. “We see a little bit more of an uptick in those patients who might be on the fence, unknown if they’re going to take it or not, and you present it to them right there and they say, ‘Sure, we’ll take it.’”

UofL Health’s vaccine site at Brook and Liberty will remain open until at least the end of June.

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