I’ve spent the last two weeks volunteering at vaccination clinics - the clinic I worked at today did 900 people - its a huge assembly line.
Wow that’s great!!
Around here it’s hard to get an appointment but everyone I’ve talked to said that when they did get vaccinated it’s was a pleasant and efficient experience. Everyone was nice and helpful and organized. Its really thanks to people like you that this is going to happen!!
Thank you!
Thank you.
Fantastic!
Is this in a big city?
Great job!!
Thumbs up!
Awesome work!
Thanks for volunteering. Can anyone do this or did you have some medical background? I know some military / reservists have been helping out.
Fabulous!
I think that the people actually jabbing needles into arms need at least some medical background, but they’re only a fraction of the people involved in making these big operations work. A lot of the work is paperwork, directing people to the right lines, and so on.
I’ve had nothing but praise for the folks working the clinic I went to-- In and out, like well-oiled clockwork. Someone must have been doing a lot of good work behind the scenes to organize it so well.
So this is a spot between St. Paul and Minneapolis. They took an empty office - mostly open floor plan - and put in tables chairs, etc. When fully staffed there are ten registrars checking people in - eight people making follow up appointments (its Pfizer) and I think fifteen jabbers and documenters. Jabbers and documenters work in a team. They are required to be clinical (EMTs, nurses, doctors, - in my state now veternarians, dentists). Because its Pfizer, we also need a pharmacists. There are another half dozen or more greeters that hand out paperwork and direct traffic and another half a dozen people who do other things - like watch during the observation period to make sure no one is have an adverse reaction (most common, people who faint from getting shots - also just plain being old and needing to lie down).
I’ve spent most my time at a smaller clinic closer to home - they do about 300 a day. But they are suburban and aren’t having a difficult time finding volunteers - the place I was at yesterday really needed people. The smaller clinic only has four vaccinators and four documenters and two people handling registration. Its much smaller physically and its non-stop.
You do need an appointment - and this is a big health conglomerate that uses Epic (MyChart) - which is not known for its usability. So the biggest issue we face is people thinking they have an appointment and they didn’t finish the processes. There isn’t enough vaccine to squeeze them in (although yesterday I had an 81 year old man with this problem and the site supervisor gave him one of our nine out of 900 no shows). Near the end of the day, we review no-shows, vaccinate any non-vaccinated volunteers (I got mine last week) and make phone calls to next on the “I can be there in 15 minutes” list.
The health system I’m volunteering for is asking for a minimum 40 hour commitment and has stopped registering volunteers twice now because they have so many - apparently 2000 more people are undergoing background checks and will hit the ground in the next week. I’ll have 35 hours in after next week if I don’t pick up another shift. Shifts are either eight or four and a half hours. But apparently a lot of the volunteers fall into the “get the shot, don’t show up again” category. I figure I’m in it for the long haul, since April and May is going to be intense.
Oh, and as to well oiled clockwork…behind the scenes there are issues - as someone who has done process improvement its maddening. The big clinic worked really well - it only opened two weeks ago and I think they took the lessons learned in the first few months. My normal little clinic - they have issues with how the flow of the space works - with hard walls the space isn’t flexible. The big site (same system) has a one sheet both sides piece of paper for paperwork, and has enough room for tables to fill it out on - the small clinic is a two sheet stapled number and hands out clipboards - which need to be sanitized between use (that’s another thing all those non trained people like me do - we wear nitrile gloves and wipe down chairs, pens, clipboards, etc with really nasty wipes). At the big site its volunteers doing registering, and if the insurance information isn’t in there, and a supervisor isn’t available to help its “they’ll fix it on the back end” - in the small clinic the clinic manager wants all insurance information to be right and proper, if religion isn’t in there they ask - its a full registration like when you go to the doctor (I suspect she gets graded on metrics on how much her registration staff needs cleaning up after - which makes it nearly impossible for a volunteer to do it).
First of all, thank you for your service…
My wife and I received our first shots yesterday. We went down to the Arizona fairgrounds, where they had set up a huge assembly line. It was very well run - there were volunteers at each of the (many) stops, checking ID, medical history, answering questions, etc. The actual shot was given in the car, you pull into a “bay,” confirm some information (again), and they jab you through the open window. Then they had you drive out and wait for the 15 minutes to make sure that you don’t burst into flame, or whatever. There was no line to speak of - the parking lot was set up with an enormous number of cones, obviously designed to handle thousands of people at time, but since you needed to have a reservation and time slot, there were only manbe 5 cars ahead and behind us. All in all, very well run.
And you are welcome to everyone who says thanks - but it really is its own reward - people are so grateful to get the shot and its the best volunteer job in the world right now. I’m getting to be a small part of history - and as a student of history, I’ve always been fascinated by the generally overlooked labor of (mostly) women in crisis - the bandage rollers and volunteer nurses that got us through the Civil War and World War I and the Spanish Flu, the sock knitters…the victory gardeners…and recently the army of homemade mask sewers (I did some mask sewing last Spring). Its an honor to join them.
That’s exactly right. I’ve been volunteering at the drive through clinic here in town, mostly directing traffic, and it’s one of the few things I’ve done where no one is unhappy to be there.
A couple things I’ve noticed:
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I’m surprised at how many people I have to stop and ask to put masks on. I get that sometimes while driving you just forget that you took it off, happens to me too. I mean though that I’m surprised at how many people just aren’t even prepared to put on a mask, as if the idea of needing one when interacting with medical professionals is a brand new idea. One woman, there with her mother, was so bewildered by my mask request it was just as if I asked her to hand me a cup of lawn fertilizer.
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There are some folks that just should not be driving. One gentleman drove right up the middle of two different lanes, mowing down a row of cones in the process. He stopped after collecting several under his car, then waved me over to ask, “Did I hit something? What was it?”
I think with the hundreds of people I’ve seen, I’ve only had to ask two people to pull up masks (and no one to put one on), but I’m in a compliant state and we aren’t working a car line - I can see where that adds to the count, because I don’t always have my mask on in my car either (although one is sitting in a cup holder - it may be a little dirty, but it will keep me from breathing on you).
And yeah…if I ran this zoo, way back in October when we were doing trials we would have started gathering information on who needed home vaccination. We have a lot of elderly that have been getting groceries delivered, but really shouldn’t drive - or stand in line. The biggest problem our clinic has had is falls getting to and from the parking lot (fortunately, the parking lot for the small clinic is shared with the emergency room for the hospital next door). Where they live in assisted living, they are getting help - a lot of assisted living centers have had vaccination clinics on site and we’ve seen staff bring in buses - but a lot take pride in not leaving their homes.
Also, its Minnesota - someone should have thought about covering and perhaps even heating outdoor areas where people end up standing in line. People in their 80s and 90s should not be standing outside in 40 degree weather when its raining. I wasn’t volunteering yet, but we had a HARSH February cold snap that was apparently hell.
Part of my surprise is because I live in a fairly mask compliant area as well. I think your comment about your situation not being a car line might be it. The car is an isolated experience, and aside from the occasional drive in, I think most people have the mentality that they’re already completely isolated. He fact that they’re talking to check-in volunteers and nurses maybe just didn’t quite sink in.
Except for that woman that was completely surprised that mask would be needed at all. Can’t explain her.
Here’s another thank you to the volunteers! Awesome work, guys!
I didn’t want to volunteer to get a shot because that would put me too close to too many unvaccinated people indoors, but now that I’m fully vaccinated I’m ready to go. Except they aren’t taking any more volunteers in my area. I’ll keep watching out for openings, I’m a great paper shuffler.
And a great paper shuffler is what makes the world keep turning-really, without that this whole effort would fall apart. Plus I have the feeling you are a pretty cheerful, fun-loving person too and that kind of energy is critical to have around worried, anxious folks trying to get vaccinated.
Awww, thanks for the kind words. I’m even more cheerful now that I’m fully vaxed, and I could reassure people about the side effects. “Drink LOTS of water!!!”