Smooth transition for county vaccination efforts at CCC

SOUTH PLATTSBURGH | With a seamless transition to its new point-of-distribution vaccination site at Clinton Community College, county health officials are looking forward to ramping up their capabilities as more vaccines become available. A steady flow of ecstatic local residents visited the Clinton County Health Department's new targeted vaccination site on its opening day March 4-just days after the effort relocated from the SUNY Plattsburgh Field House. Officials had launched much of the county's current vaccination efforts from the Field House early on as they focused on vaccinating targeted qualifying groups, such as essential healthcare workers and law enforcement. But as spring sports get into full swing, use of the Field House and scheduling left officials eyeing other locally approved locations before they quickly settled into their new location inside the CCC gymnasium at 158 Clinton Point Road. "It was fantastic working with Plattsburgh State and this is just another awesome location to be able to do this. Both partners have great and it's been wonderful working with both colleges," Molly Flynn, senior public health educator, said as she eyed the new quarters and well-organized first day. With ample parking and shorter walking distances, the CCC site is also on the county's public-transit route, making it even more accessible for area senior citizens and qualifying participants. On its first day, the CCC site planned to administer 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine- 200 to those 65 and older and 300 for qualifying essential workers, educators and those with comorbidities. Initial county efforts focused on vaccinating targeted individualized groups, such as residential disabled persons, and officials plan to expand their capabilities as permitted and as supplies become available. In an all-hands-on-deck effort, the Clinton County Health Department has already administered 1,882 first doses and 614 second doses as of March 4, utilizing an organized pool of personnel to help accomplish their goals. "We're using our Medical Reserve Corp. volunteers and some of our CCHD retirees have returned to help. We also have a team of Plattsburgh State here nurses as well," Flynn said "This is what we're trained to do and we're ready to do more, it's just a waiting game for more vaccines. And once we have those vaccines, we're ready and willing to get it into as many arms as possible." Those interested in obtaining a vaccine through the county site should visit https://apps2.health.ny.gov/doh2/applinks/cdmspr/2/counties?OpID=BC95627F2BF5060CE0530A6C7C161 F94 or call 518-565-4848. Since the health department does not schedule appointments prior to receiving allotted shipments, it still had appointment openings for its first two days. "We wait until the vaccine is here to actually schedule it. We don't ever want to cancel appointments so we plan the clinics but don't open registration until we know the vaccines are received," said Flynn, who encouraged residents to be patient and keep checking the Health Department's daily updates for opening announcements. While the county site still had openings, a steady flow of joyful residents took advantage of the first-day appointments, bringing an upbeat momentum to the first hours of business. "Our team, staff and volunteers have been waiting for this moment to provide this service to our community. And it's only going to keep getting better as more vaccines become available."

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Smooth transition for county vaccination efforts at CCC

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