(KNSI) – St. Cloud-based CentraCare and Carris Health are readying to vaccinate as many eligible people as possible against COVID-19 with a new online scheduling tool.
Dr. George Morris, Incident Commander for CentraCare’s COVID-19 response, says that while initial vaccine supplies were limited during the first 8 to 12 weeks, it allowed CentraCare to build its scheduling systems and get the vaccination clinic processes in place. He adds that over the past week, “We are pleased to see our vaccine supply increase, and we are now able to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone in those first priority groups, including those aged 65+, who want to receive it.
“This is a huge vaccination effort, and we want to move quickly so that we can start to vaccinate the next group of individuals with high-risk health conditions and other essential workers,” said Morris. “We are already preparing our staff to be ready to reach out to those patients in the next phase so we can swiftly pivot to the next priority group.”
As the first 45,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in Minnesota Wednesday, CentraCare says it did receive an allotment.
CentraCare says it is communicating with eligible patients directly, and appointments are open to non-CentraCare, and Carris Health patients. Those can be made by calling CentraCare Connect.
“As more and more area pharmacies and community partners begin to provide access to the vaccine, together we have a common goal to get shots in arms and protect our communities,” said Morris.
Anyone who is currently eligible to get the vaccine can call 320-200-3200 or click here to schedule online.
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