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OSF HealthCare has administered just over 4,000 initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines over the past three weeks in the Tri-County area, according to head nurse Sarah Overton.
OSF began vaccinating patients in mid-January in Category 1B which includes people 65 years of age and older. Overton said nearly 100% of those Peoria County patients have received an invitation for their appointment for a vaccine.
“So now we’re moving to second doses, which means we have to have the ability to get everyone we just vaccinated and stick to our allocation,” Overton said.
These allowances are allocated by county health departments to vaccination sites and are dependent on distribution at the federal and state levels.
OSF patient Doug Mooney said he was relieved to have the opportunity to receive his first vaccination.
“Well it’s been a long time coming so once they call we’re here,” Mooney said.
Lisabeth Pongracz, who runs the OSF vaccination center in Peoria, said the vaccination process typically takes 20 minutes. Patients arrive at a scheduled appointment and are checked in and examined before vaccination. After receiving the vaccine, patients stay for a brief observation before scheduling a follow-up visit and then leaving.
Pongracz said the clinic currently administers around 500 vaccines per day. She thanked the staff and volunteers for overcoming the initial challenges of increasing resources and space to meet the influx of patients.
“Now that we have the vaccine and we are distributing it … there is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel and we see it from patients every day,” Pongracz said.
UnityPoint Health and Heartland Health Services are also providing COVID-19 vaccinations for 1B populations by appointment in the Tri-County area. Several commercial pharmacies, including HyVee, Walgreens, and Kroger, also offer vaccines for those currently eligible.
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