Karen Gleason
County, hospital and city officials met Wednesday at the Del Rio Civic Center to plan for a mass COVID vaccination event in the near future.
The county and city on Tuesday began taking applications for the COVID vaccinations on their respective websites, and Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said a total of 1,542 persons had signed up for a vaccination as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Owens and representatives of Val Verde Regional Medical Center, including VVRMC Chief Executive Officer Linda Walker, and the city, including Mayor Pro-tem Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr. and City Emergency Management Coordinator John Sheedy, met with staff members from their respective organizations to plan for the mass vaccination event.
The meeting also included Assistant Val Verde County/City of Del Rio local health authority Dr. Laura Palau.
Owens told the group that, as of Wednesday morning, no one knows exactly how many doses of the vaccine the county will receive, but the planners are expecting to receive at least 1,200 doses.
Walker said she envisions setting up an “assembly line” process at the civic center so all 1,200 doses can be administered to Del Rio and Val Verde County residents in a single day.
She told the group preparation will make the event go smoothly.
The group reviewed the medical and office supplies that would be needed, as well as the personnel who will be required to run the event.
The civic center will be divided into an area where the vaccine will be given and an area where persons who have received the vaccine can wait for the required 15-minute recovery time.
Jessica Nuutinen, the hospital’s chief nursing officer, discussed the logistics of setting up and carrying out the vaccination event.
Walker also recommended a “dry run” once everything has been set up.
