With vaccine demand down, Louisville teams get creative to make sure doses don't go to waste
FORWARD TO BOOST THE VACCINATION EFFORT. WITH MORE VACCINE SUPPLIED AND DEMAND MAKING SURE THEY GO TO USE HAS BEEN A TOP PRIORITY FOR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. YOU HAVE A HEALTH DOCTOR JASON SMITH TELLS ME TEAMS HAVE BEEN GETTING CREATIVE TO MAKE SURE NONE ARE WASTED AS VACCINATION EFFORTS PLATEAU IN THE METRO. IT CAN BE A RACE AGAINST TIME FOR VACCINE DOSES. IT WAS PRETTY INTENSE BECAUSE SOME OF YOU KNOW ONCE YOU THOUGHT OUT ONCE IT'S A ROOM TEMPERATURE YOU DO HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON IT BAPTIST HEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER CHUCK ANDERSON. IS THEY FACE THIS ISSUE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE VACCINE ROLL OUT NOW? YOU WILL HELP DR. JASON SMITH TELLS ME THEIR TEAMS FEEL THAT SAME STRESS AGAIN, BUT ARE MAKING IT WORK WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR OVERALL VACCINE WASTAGE. IT'S IT'S ALMOST NON-EXISTENT SMITH HAS SEEN THE NUMBERS THAT CARDINALS STADIUM'S MASS VACCINATION SITE DWINDLE WITH CAPACITIES OF VACCINATE UP TO 4,000 PEOPLE A DAY. THE SITE NOW ISN'T EVEN SEEING ONE. THIRD OF THAT NUMBER ABOUT 250 TO PER DAY. WHICH THOSE ARE NEW SHOTS, THAT'S FANTASTIC. DON'T GET ME WRONG, BUT IT'S ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW A TENTH OF WHAT WE COULD DO, WHICH MEANS THAT THE END OF THE DAY TEAMS CAN BE SCRAMBLING TO GET DOSES INTO ARMS BEFORE THEY EXPIRE THE END OF THE DAY RUSH IS DEFINITELY A HUSTLE WE CAN ALMOST ALWAYS FIND SOMEONE WHO WANTS THEIR WILLING TO TAKE THE VACCINE IF WE TAKE IT TO THEM AND SMITH SAYS THAT'S WHAT TEAMS HAVE BEEN DOING EMPLOYEES THAT THIS JIMMY JOHN'S WERE ABLE TO GET VACCINATED WITH UNUSED DOSES FROM THE U OF L HEALTH MASS VACCINATION SITE DOWN THE BLOCK AT LIBERTY IN BROOK. CARDINALS STADIUMS VACCINATION TEAM WENT ACROSS THE STREET TO THIS BUSINESS ON A SLOW DAY AND LET THEM KNOW THEY HAD DOSES AVAILABLE AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE. WE TAKE THEM INTO OUR URGENT CARES AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS. AT THE END OF THE DAY IN THE EVENING AND AND FIND SOME PEOPLE THAT MAY BE WILLING OR WANT TO TAKE THOSE VACCINES AND THEN SCHEDULE THEM FOR FOLLOW-UPS SMITH SAYS THESE NEW STRATEGIES ARE TELLING ABOUT HOW TO CONTINUE THE FINAL PUSH OF THE VACCINATION EFFORT. HOW DO WE MAKE THIS JUST
As more of the population gets their shot, demand for the vaccine has decreased significantly and local medical professionals have been working overtime to make sure precious doses don't expire.UofL Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Smith said the mass vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium is seeing fewer people -- indicative of a decrease in demand being seen throughout the Metro.The site located in the Purple Lot has capacity to see up to 4,000 people a day but hasn't even seen one-third of that a day."About 250 to 300 people per day which those are new shots, that's fantastic don't get me wrong, but it's about a tenth of what we could do," Smith said.The small number of people showing up at times leaves unused vaccine at the end of the day."The end of the day rush can definitely be a hustle," Smith said. "It's a lot of moving pieces towards the end of the day. The good news is if we manage it well we're only talking about single-digit doses. I'd worry if we had hundreds of doses available, that would be hard to place but when it's you know, one two three, those type of things, we could almost always find someone who wants or willing to take the vaccine if we take it to them."Taking it to people is exactly what teams have been doing to make sure doses don't expire, and they've been successful."When we look at our overall vaccine waste, it's almost non-existent," Smith said.Smith said employees working at Jimmy John's on Market Street were able to get vaccinated after medical professionals working at the UofL mass vaccination site on Liberty and Brook walked over to the store and let employees know they had doses available that needed to be used. On a recent slow day, Smith said the Cardinal Stadium vaccination team walked across the street to Superior Distribution and let employees know they could get their shot, and some did.Many more businesses around the mass vaccination sites have seen the same stories as teams reached went to them about available doses and the outreach is happening inside UofL Health facilities as well."We take them into our urgent cares and our emergency departments at the end of the day in the evening and find some people that may be willing or want to take the vaccine and schedule them for follow-ups."The stress of making sure doses don't go to waste is something Baptist Health chief medical officer Dr. Chuck Anderson said he experienced at the very beginning of the vaccine rollout."It was pretty tense because you know, once you thaw it out, once it's at room temperature you have an expiration date on it," Anderson said.Smith said the success in meeting people where they are is critical to understanding how to continue the vaccination effort going forward."Finding ways where it's part of their everyday life where they don't have to make a trip outside of perhaps down the street," Smith said. That's really what we're trying to get into. How do we make this just as easy as possible."
As more of the population gets their shot, demand for the vaccine has decreased significantly and local medical professionals have been working overtime to make sure precious doses don't expire.
UofL Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Smith said the mass vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium is seeing fewer people -- indicative of a decrease in demand being seen throughout the Metro.
The site located in the Purple Lot has capacity to see up to 4,000 people a day but hasn't even seen one-third of that a day.
"About 250 to 300 people per day which those are new shots, that's fantastic don't get me wrong, but it's about a tenth of what we could do," Smith said.
The small number of people showing up at times leaves unused vaccine at the end of the day.
"The end of the day rush can definitely be a hustle," Smith said. "It's a lot of moving pieces towards the end of the day. The good news is if we manage it well we're only talking about single-digit doses. I'd worry if we had hundreds of doses available, that would be hard to place but when it's you know, one two three, those type of things, we could almost always find someone who wants or willing to take the vaccine if we take it to them."
Taking it to people is exactly what teams have been doing to make sure doses don't expire, and they've been successful.
"When we look at our overall vaccine waste, it's almost non-existent," Smith said.
Smith said employees working at Jimmy John's on Market Street were able to get vaccinated after medical professionals working at the UofL mass vaccination site on Liberty and Brook walked over to the store and let employees know they had doses available that needed to be used. On a recent slow day, Smith said the Cardinal Stadium vaccination team walked across the street to Superior Distribution and let employees know they could get their shot, and some did.
Many more businesses around the mass vaccination sites have seen the same stories as teams reached went to them about available doses and the outreach is happening inside UofL Health facilities as well.
"We take them into our urgent cares and our emergency departments at the end of the day in the evening and find some people that may be willing or want to take the vaccine and schedule them for follow-ups."
The stress of making sure doses don't go to waste is something Baptist Health chief medical officer Dr. Chuck Anderson said he experienced at the very beginning of the vaccine rollout.
"It was pretty tense because you know, once you thaw it out, once it's at room temperature you have an expiration date on it," Anderson said.
Smith said the success in meeting people where they are is critical to understanding how to continue the vaccination effort going forward.
"Finding ways where it's part of their everyday life where they don't have to make a trip outside of perhaps down the street," Smith said. That's really what we're trying to get into.
How do we make this just as easy as possible."