Providing protection
Volunteers help Adventist Health Sonora’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics run smoothly
Volunteers like Mary Kellogg are helping Adventist Health Sonora vaccinate more than 1,000 people each weekend during clinics at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds.
Kellogg is a registered nurse who has worked at the hospital for 40 years and was among more than a dozen health professionals donating their time on top of their regular work duties at this past Saturday’s clinic. She has volunteered at each community vaccination clinic the hospital has hosted since late January.
“Since I don’t work the front line at the hospital, I just feel like it’s a way I can help,” she said. “It’s a small part of my time that I can give to the community.”
The clinic on Saturday was expected to again immunize more than 1,000 people, with about 880 of them receiving their second dose of the two-shot vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer.
Paula Roland, 65, of Soulsbyville, was one of those who received her second shot of the Pfizer vaccine on Saturday and said she was appreciative of the “top-ofthe-line” organization at the clinics that aim to help the community return to some semblance of normalcy as soon as possible.
“It feels liberating,” she said of getting vaccinated for the potentially deadly virus. “It’s going to be easier to be around my grandkids, since they live right below me.”
People expressing excitement at being able to see their grandchildren for the first time in a year was a common theme that many volunteers said they have heard at the clinics.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with new guidance for fully vaccinated people on Monday that includes allowing grandparents to visit their children and their families even if they have not been vaccinated, as long as no one in their family is at risk for severe disease.
In addition, the new guidance permits small indoor gatherings among fully vaccinated people.
A state dashboard on Monday showed a total of 17,370 vaccine doses had been administered in the county as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, with 73.3% of those going to people who are 65 or older.
The county and some pharmacies also opened up vaccine eligibility last week to people 60 and older, as well as anyone 18 or older with certain underlying conditions that put them at higher risk of serious illness or death from the virus.
Food and agriculture workers were also recently added to the list of occupations that are eligible to receive the vaccine, including grocery store employees, restaurant staff, farm and ranch workers, food manufacturing facilities, food and agricultural production, transport and delivery, vendor-managed distribution, and food assistance programs.
“We have a lot of people who are really passionate about getting the vaccines done,” said Karen O’brien, spokeswoman for Adventist Health Sonora, at the clinic on Saturday.
O’brien said the hospital has been receiving about
1,000 doses per week, though the exact amount in each shipment remains uncertain until they receive them. The hospital previously was hosting the clinics on Saturdays and Sundays, but have streamlined the process to get them all done in a single day.
The ultimate goal is get 80% to 90% of the county’s population of roughly 54,000 vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity and prevent further mutations of the virus within the community that could hurt progress if the vaccines are less effective against them.
No one who has been vaccinated during any of the clinics at the fairgrounds has experienced any harmful reactions to the vaccine, O’brien said.
Jackie Fullerton, a registered nurse at the hospital who was helping to oversee the clinic on Saturday, said the vaccines have to be administered by someone with the required qualifications that can include nurses, doctoms, pharmacists, medical assistants and physician assistants.
Fullerton said each clinic requires at least eight people with the proper qualifications, though they typically have been having about 14 to 16 each weekend. There are also a number of family members of hospital staff and other people in the community who volunteer to help with parking and other non-medical aspects of the clinics.
“This is probably the first time since the pandemic started that I feel like we have any hope,” she said. “We want to make sure the whole county is vaccinated.”