Vaccine clinics perfect their process as more doses, patients roll in

As soon as the next round of vaccines arrives in Southwest Florida, the vaccination rate should start quickly rising, so those operating the vaccination sites are getting ready for a higher volume of visitors.

It involves a lot of checking, double-checking and triple-checking. Patients with appointments will go through check-in and registration at the door, where they sign a consent form and get some information about the vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control. Then another check-in right before they enter the vaccine room and again when they’re with a nurse, about to get their shot.

All three times, people will be asked about their exposure to COVID-19: if they’ve had it, if they’re allergic to anything and if they’ve had any other immunizations in the past two weeks, because if they did, medical professionals might not administer the shot, to prevent any sort of adverse reaction. Once the patient clears those questions, a pharmacist will draw up the shot and the nurse will administer it. Then there’s a 15- to 30-minute waiting period to make sure no one has an allergic reaction.

Nurses here say the process is running like a well-oiled machine.

“Our customers that we’re serving here have really been impressed with the process,” said Mary Paredero, a Lee Health COVID-19 clinic practice manager. “They are really shocked with how well-set up we are; we’ve got a system, the double checks and everything, so we’ve gotten a lot of compliments. It’s a happy place in that room.”

With the current number of doses available, they’re able to get around 400 people vaccinated in a day. But once the Johnson & Johnson shot becomes readily available and more Moderna and Pfizer doses head this way, they say they can vaccinate up to 800 people a day at Gulf Coast Medical Center.

“Pfizer is in three weeks, Moderna is in four weeks,” Paredero said. “Their appointment is already scheduled, so they already know when they are to report back for their next vaccine. If it is their second vaccine that they’re getting, they’re good; if nothing happened in the observation area, they are free to go and we just wish them really good luck, and really happy for them that they got the vaccine and they’re going to be safe now, hopefully.”

The whole process takes 30 to 45 minutes. This is just one spot—staff at the vaccination site at RSW said they could also double their current numbers, vaccinating up to 10,000 people a day.