MOLINE, Ill. — It's been just over three weeks since the Rock Island County Health Department began offering walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the department's office in Rock Island.
Those clinics on Tuesdays and Fridays replaced the mass vaccination site at the Camden Centre in Milan. The clinics started on June 1, 2021.
Rock Island County Health Department Administrator Nita Ludwig said those walk-in clinics have been successful, seeing around 100 people or more each week specifically for these clinics.
On Tuesdays, the health department vaccinates around 40 to 45 people with either the Johnson and Johnson or Moderna shots.
On Fridays, though, the number of people vaccinated goes up to around 80 to 85 people, according to Ludwig. That's because the health department offers the Pfizer vaccine on Fridays, which anyone in the 12 and older age group can receive.
"Once you thaw out a Pfizer vaccine you have a certain amount of time you need to use that up in," said Ludwig. "And with our other off-site clinics, like our clinics in the schools, our clinics here on Fridays, we try to thaw just what we know we'll need, but we always thaw a little bit more."
Ludwig said the health department has tried to keep waste to a minimum for each vaccine clinic they host.
"There's no way to sometimes use the entire vial, so there are occasions where one or two doses will be put in the sharps container," said Ludwig.
The clinics at the health department will be offered at least through the summer months, according to Ludwig.
Ludwig said she still is not sure what the health department will do in the fall when the department begins offering flu vaccines.
Ludwig said she foresees a possible dual clinic with both the flu and COVID-19 vaccine clinic, but she said department leaders are still deciding what that time will look like.
Ludwig said the health department's main focus is getting as many people vaccinated as possible, especially the younger age group that is eligible right now. That includes getting eligible school-age children vaccinated before the next school year begins.