A mass vaccination site of the COVID-19 drive-thru for the Peoria area is not outside the realm of possibility.
But Peoria County / City Health Department administrator Monica Hendrickson says that if that really happens depends on how much Johnson & Johnson vaccine the area receives.
“What we are seeing with Johnson & Johnson is that they are very good with our drive-thru clinics, which we don’t have in our area,” she said. “And so, if we see a lot of allocations for Johnson & Johnson, this is something that we would consider one of our options.”
Hendrickson said that, in this scenario, local hospitals would continue to focus on administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
“Moderna and Pfizer would remain in our hospital systems,” she said. “Not necessarily at the request of the hospital system, but because the monitoring and storage mechanisms make the environment better for distribution”.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses and cold storage for full effectiveness. The Johnson & Johson vaccine is a single dose and can be stored more easily.
Hendrickson said local health departments already have a lot of experience with drive-thru vaccination clinics using the flu vaccine.
The Peoria area has not yet received a shipment of J&J vaccine. Most of the state’s first J&J vaccine shipment went to existing mass vaccination sites in the state.
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