DES MOINES, Iowa — UnityPoint Health is focusing its efforts on vaccinating as many elderly Iowans in its network of patients as quickly as possible.
Starting the weekend of Feb. 6, seven community vaccination clinics will go live in central Iowa with the hope of vaccinating up to 3,000 Iowans age 65 and older.
Appointments are set for this weekend, but UnityPoint hopes to have these community clinics each weekend for the month of February.
Anesa Buchanan is head of the East University Des Moines clinic. She admitted planning for these clinics has been difficult because of the unpredictable information about vaccine doses.
"Sometimes we're finding out five days in advance of the vaccines we are getting, so yes, it's been giving me heart palpitations," said Buchanan. "The reason we're doing these appointment-only clinics is because of vaccine supply. We have to control the number of people and end the day with the correct number of people vaccinated for the doses we have."
320 are expected to get the vaccine at each clinic this weekend.
"We are really not trying to be gatekeepers with the vaccine," said Buchanan. "We are just trying to vaccinate our most vulnerable patients."
UnityPoint Health is working with local school districts to set up on-site vaccination clinics for educators. They have eight scheduled for February and three others close to getting finalized.
According to spokeswoman Macinzie McFarland, UnityPoint is beginning to work with child care centers, as those Iowans are now eligible to get the vaccine. They have 17 centers scheduled, but that's dependent on vaccine supply.
Des Moines Public Schools
Nearly one thousand teachers and faculty members with the Des Moines Public School District received the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday in partnership with MercyOne.
Dowling Catholic High School
Teachers and staff at Dowling began their vaccination process on Friday.
Following Iowa's vaccine distribution plan, the vaccine was given out by UnityPoint Health professionals.
A statement release by the schools says they hope all teachers and staff choose to be vaccinated because it's an important step in protecting the health and safety of our community.
West Central Valley
Nearly one hundred teachers received vaccines at West Central Valley High School in Guthrie County on Friday
Faculty was required to fill out a form and answer a questionnaire to ensure they were eligible for the vaccine and within minutes had their first doses.
Ames
Over one hundred faculty members at the Ames School District received the first dose on Friday, partnership with Story County Public Health.
The primary focus was getting doses to people who have kids that are not able to consistently wear a mask.
The district plans on 14 more clinics in order to give everyone their first dose.