Kent vaccine site accepting new appointments
To book a time for a first dose, call 211
KENT — After a two-week pause, High Watch, on Old Barn Road in Kent Barns, is once again accepting new appointments for first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, an appointment can only be made by calling 211.
“We’re back at it this week,” said Jason Perillo, High Watch chief marketing officer. “We started accepting new first doses yesterday (Monday).”
High Watch is the town’s only COVID-19 vaccination site. To book at appointment for a first dose, Perillo said to call 211.
“Do not to call High Watch, nor go on the VAMS (Vaccine Administration Management System) site,” he said.
He added he expects that to change at some point in the future. “A lot of this is day to day,” he said.
Over the past two weeks, the facility continued to receive a supply for vaccine appointments that had already been booked, and appointments for second doses for individuals who received their first dose with High Watch.
“Now we are getting doses for newly booked first appointments,” Perillo said.
High Watch received 300 doses of the vaccine this week and expects to hear about next week very soon.
He added the 211 process is “fairly easy to utilize.”
High Watch has been administering Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
“We don’t know which one is available until a few days before they’re delivered,” he said.
Perillo said, despite what many may think, there’s no “extra vaccine” available at the end of the day.
“What we do is, around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, we start to get very, very careful about opening new vials and we monitor it very, very carefully,” he said. “Then, we have a list of individuals who are eligible and who are able to get to us at the last minute.”
High Watch closes for the day at 5 p.m., and at around 4 p.m. the facility begins calling residents who live close by, asking them to be there within 20 minutes, according to Perillo.
Kent Station Pharmacy, at 38 N. Main St., plans to become a COVID-19 vaccination site
Once vaccines are available at the pharmacy, the news will be announced at the store and on Facebook.