FLINT, MI -- Genesee County and Bishop Airport officials are making plans to create large-scale, drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinics at the airport as quickly as additional vaccine doses can be secured.
The county Board of Commissioners could give a memorandum of agreement, laying the groundwork for the clinics, preliminary approval during a committee meeting Wednesday, Feb. 17.
The “tentative plan (is) to be able to do a large drive-through clinic when the supply of vaccine increases ...,” Dr. Pamela Hackert, the county’s chief medical officer, said in a message to MLive-The Flint Journal on Monday, Feb. 15. “We do not have knowledge of a specific time frame for a vaccine increase but are taking these steps in planning to be ready when supply does increase.
“It is really just planning a large, convenient, drive-thru facility to be (ready) when we do get (the) vaccine increase.”
County health officials have been anxious to help increase the vaccination rate among those 16 and older in the county but have been receiving only about 2,700 doses in a typical week -- far less than demand.
As of last week, the pre-registered waiting list at the Health Department for a vaccine had swelled to more than 50,000 and the area’s vaccination rate finally topped 10 percent of those 16 and older as well.
Chris Yeates, chief operating officer at Bishop, said officials expect the airport’s economy parking lot, across Bristol Road from the terminal building, to be used for the clinics, which would aim to vaccinate 1,500 to 2,000 people in a single day.
The Health Department held smaller clinics last week for teachers in the county, aiming to vaccinate up to 1,000 and an earlier clinic arranged in cooperation with Flint churches aimed to vaccinate 500. The county has organized other clinics in the last several weeks and hospitals and others have also hosted clinics.
The memorandum of agreement commissioners are set to consider Wednesday says using Bishop as a clinic site has a number of advantages, including that residents trust their local airport; are familiar with the Bishop personnel and operations; that it features an area that has an open layout, allowing for a large number of people to pass through in a reasonable amount of time; and that it has sufficient parking and effective traffic management in place.
There have been a total 21,317 cases of coronavirus and 689 related deaths in Genesee County since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The website to pre-register for a vaccine is https://www.gc4me.com/. Senior citizens and those without computer access can also call local senior citizen centers or the Valley Area Agency on Aging at 810-600-0617 to register by phone.
Those 65 and older, health care workers and teachers continue to be given priority on the waiting list.
Read more on MLive:
Genesee County COVID-19 vaccination rate hits 10 percent, average daily case count drops to 15
60% of Genesee County teachers will soon be vaccinated, health department says
12.5% of Michigan adults have gotten at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose; see numbers in your county