Montgomery County will receive a 100% increase in COVID-19 vaccine allotment next week, health department administrator Amber Reed said Tuesday.
The county expects a shipment of 1,000 vaccines on Monday, up from last week’s shipment of 500 doses, Reed said in a report to the health board.
The additional doses allow the county to double the number of appointment slots at the South Boulevard vaccination site to 12 in a 10-minute period, she added.
“We won’t have to expand our hours because the system itself works,” Reed said. “We’re going to increase the space in our registration area.”
Reed said the vaccine allotment was increased based on assurances that the site can handle the additional traffic. The department will be able to give roughly 800 vaccines per week, she said.
Hoosiers age 70 and older are currently eligible for the vaccine, as are nursing home residents, first responders who have face-to-face contact with the public and licensed or unlicensed healthcare workers who have in-person contact with patients or infectious material in healthcare settings. There is no cost for the vaccine.
Appointments can be scheduled at www.ourshot.in.gov. The vaccination site is open from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the former Save-A-Lot, 451 E. South Boulevard.
More than 1,800 Montgomery County residents have received their first dose of the vaccine as of 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard. The number fully vaccinated stood at 220.
The state has shown improvement in the spread of the virus thanks to red-zone restrictions that went into place over the holidays in most counties, health officer Dr. Scott Douglas said.
The stricter limits on crowd sizes likely helped avoid another rush in cases after New Year’s on top of the post-Thanksgiving surge that filled area hospitals, Douglas said.
About 600 new cases have been reported in Montgomery County so far this month, down nearly 42% over the same period in December, according to state figures.
Douglas said counties will begin easing restrictions “at the same time we may start having a more contagious strain,” raising concerns about a potential resurgence in cases in March.
“Nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen and the epidemiologists in public health are just trying to make the best guesses they can,” Douglas said.
The health department continues free COVID-19 testing at its offices on West Market Street and the former Horner Automotive Superstore on North Green Street.
The Market Street site is doing an average 70-100 tests per day while the Green Street site averages about 90 tests per day, according to the health department. Results are coming back in 24 to 36 hours, down from wait times of three-to-five days earlier.
Six paid interns were hired to help run the testing sites, allowing health department employees to focus on vaccinations.
Tests are available Monday and Friday from 10 a.m to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. on Market Street. The hours for the Green Street site are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
Appointments for testing can be scheduled at www.scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov.
