HOSPITALS REACH VACCINE MILESTONE
Adventist Health administered 10,000th vaccine dose last week
Adventist Health hospitals in Mendocino County celebrated an important milestone Feb. 18 in their vaccination efforts to protect the community, administering their 10,000th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Since administering the first doses to staff on Dec. 18, Adventist has administered over 11,000 doses to eligible individuals over the past months including to staff and community members through mass vaccination clinics held inland and on the coast. The latest mass vaccine clinic on Feb. 18 in Fort Bragg vaccinated 720 community members over the age of 70 in six hours and another 350 on Feb. 21.
Of the 11,191 doses, more than 7,100 are first doses and over 4,000 are second doses. “This is a moment to celebrate not just for our team but also for our community. This milestone is possible through our continued partnership with state, public health as well as other community partners,” shares Judson Howe, president for Adventist Health in Mendocino County. “Our team has been determined to roll out this highly anticipated vaccine safely, quickly and efficiently to protect the most vulnerable community members. We know what this vaccine means to our patients and our friends and neighbors — hope, a sense of relief and a step towards putting this pandemic behind us. We will continue working hard to administer every dose as quickly as we can as we keep receiving supplies from the state.”
With guidance from Mendocino County Public Health, the hospitals are currently vaccinating community members who are 65 years and older as well as hospital staff.
According to the California Department of Health, as of Feb.. 18, over 21,000 doses have been administered in Mendocino County through the work of the county, local clinics and physician offices
as well as the hospitals. This is about the same number of doses administered in Merced County, which has three times Mendocino’s population.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work that our teams are doing as well as our community partners such as Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Mendocino County Public Health and physician offices, among others. It’s a true community effort. We are administering vaccines quickly and protecting our most vulnerable populations and those who are disproportionately affected by this virus such as our Latino population,” explains Bessant Parker, MD, chief medical officer for Adventist Health in Mendocino County.
The hospitals’ vaccine clinics are open to everyone in the community. Those interested in vaccine opportunities around the county can get email notifications by signing up online at www.bit.ly/ahmendo_notify. Once signed up, they will receive an email notification announcing an event, with a sign-up link to make an appointment, as well as the age group or tier that is qualified.
Hospital staff has continued being on the front lines of this pandemic — caring for COVID-19 patients, and now on the other side of the front line, collaborating with partners to provide vaccines to those who need them most.
As Adventist Health gets more allocations from the state as a Multi-county Entity, more mass vaccination clinics will be scheduled. Vaccine clinics will also be announced through the media, the three hospitals’ social media pages as well as through radio. Three vaccine clinics are planned for this week.