SALT LAKE CITY – The Salt Lake County Department of Health took the vaccine directly to those most in need on Wednesday. Outreach teams are using two new mobile health centers to administer COVID-19 vaccinations. On Wednesday, they set up a vaccination clinic in the drive-through neighborhood on the west side of Salt Lake City.
Large recreational vehicles are fitted with medical equipment. County health workers use mobile units to establish drive-through clinics and reach underserved populations.
“I was pressured at home to get it, so I got it here,” said Michael Kauffman, who rolled up his sleeve this afternoon. “The opportunity came and I took advantage of it.”
Kauffman said the pandemic caused him a cabin fever: the year has been very calm and stressful. He heard about the neighborhood clinic and pre-registered for the vaccination.
“This is basically where we came to take the university test during the peak, and who wants to get sick and die?” Kauffman said.
Now that he has taken his first dose?
“I am very relieved. I will feel better in three weeks,” he said when he started to feel more comfortable returning to a more normal lifestyle.
With mobile units, county health professionals take COVID-19 vaccinations to neighborhoods and individuals who may not have the opportunity to obtain the vaccine further away from home.
“Many community members are more comfortable in their neighborhoods,” said Lorena Riffo-Jenson, a spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Health Department.
They are installing similar vaccination clinics almost every day somewhere in the county.
“There was a large group of members of our community who were affected here,” said Riffo-Jenson, indicating that postal codes in that neighborhood had higher rates of COVID-19 at times during the pandemic. The shots are keeping the vaccine line across the state moving.
“The mobile van is just here to make setup a lot faster and more accessible for everyone,” said Riffo-Jenson.
The more people we vaccinate, the faster we can get over it.
–Jonathan Vial, community health worker
Jonathan Vial, a community health worker who volunteers at the clinic, said: “The more people we vaccinate, the faster we can get over it.”
As a member of the Hispanic community, Vial said it is important that he get involved and let people know that they can trust the vaccine and the people who administer it.
“I think this is huge,” he said. “There is a lot of misinformation and sometimes minority communities do not trust some of these things, so it is important that they feel comfortable when they are here and that someone speaks to them in their own language.”
At the moment, mobile health centers are being used in specific locations, giving injections to people who have already signed up. There are no occasional vaccines.
“It just makes it more accessible and you can vaccinate more people,” said Riffo-Jenson.
Mobile health centers cost approximately $ 250,000 each. Salt Lake County bought them with federal money provided under the CARES Act.
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