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New York City owners of The Shoppes in Bel Air are ordering the Mobile County Health Department to shut down operations inside the mall, the health department said on Sunday.
No reason was provided as to why the Department of Health’s COVID-19 response team was forced to close its vaccination and testing site at a former Forever 21 store. The location of the mall has was opened last week to accommodate large crowds, and the popularity was such that the department moved staff from its Newburn building to downtown Mobile to work at the mall.
The mall is owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group. The company or the health ministry were not available to provide an immediate response on Sunday.
Starting Monday, the department will offer vaccines either from the Newburn Building at 248 Cox Street or from the Keeler Memorial Building at 251 North Bayou Street in downtown Mobile, according to a press release. Due to the transition, Newburn will be open Mondays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Its normal business hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Keeler will remain open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Newburn Building is across from the United States Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Signs will be posted to direct people who want to get vaccinated or receive a rapid COVID-19 test.
The Health Department’s move to the mall occurred in the same week that COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations skyrocketed in Mobile County. The county saw its average daily number of cases climb to more than 600 last week. That number has since fallen to 472, according to a New York Times tracker. But hospitalizations rose dramatically last week, prompting hospital officials to advocate with area residents to get vaccinated.
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