Hospitals Prepare For Vaccination Clinics In Record Cold

Vaccinations have been in full swing in counties across the state from Kay County, where vaccination pods will be held every Wednesday through April, to Oklahoma County where you can find a pod almost every day.

“There is a lot of patients that desperately want that vaccine, so I think they are going to be going to great lengths to get that vaccine,” said Chad Smith, the Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Hospital.

Smith said their appointment only vaccination clinic for Saturday is a go and they’re taking all precautions.

“We make sure that we regularly salt all the roadways and pathways the patients would be using and we have built several temporary tents that we have supplied heating and air to as well,” said Smith.

As they prepare, they have faced the reality some people could decide to cancel their appointment. Smith said they are careful when taking the Pfizer vaccine out of the ultra-cold storage to try and eliminate potentially waste, but they have a plan in place if worse comes to worse.

“We’ve had a few instances where the decision point was let vaccine go to waste or put it in arms of anyone we can get ahold of,” said Smith.

He said they try to contact patients 65 and older before moving on to Oklahomans younger than 65 with comorbidities.

Cleveland County has already canceled its vaccination clinics for early next week because of the weather.

If your appointment is canceled, your county health department should call to reschedule.