LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Crews continue to work on the purple lot at Cardinal Stadium as the state's largest drive-thru vaccination site prepares to open.
Starting April 12, UofL Health hopes to administer the vaccine to around 4,000 people each day over the course of seven weeks. There will be 24 lanes of traffic and 100 workers helping to make sure things do as smooth as possible.
What does it take to create the biggest vaccination site? Lots of tents. Advantage Tent and Party's Derek Parson continues to leave his mark on COVID-19 response in Kentucky as he worked to bring tents to the lot.
"I think I've been on every vaccination site, every COVID testing site in the state of Kentucky actually," Parson said.
Parson and his crew set up several 20x60 tents that will help cover staff members and patients as the vaccine is administered.
"There's going to be tents set up where all of the staff members will be under cover and where the cars will be able to drive through to protect from any rain from being out in the sun," UofL Health's associate chief medical officer, Dr. Huge Shoff said. "We have the ability to bring in some fans some heaters to help keep the staff comfortable."
Freezers will be on-site to protect the Pfizer vaccines. UofL Health said they will be administering Pfizer, and later Johnson & Johnson, at the site.
Rain or shine, they will accept appointments and walk-ins from anyone in Kentucky — and they are working on a way to get people in faster than before.
"We're coming up with a neat way where we're going to be able to document on iPhones," Shoff said. "So when people come through the documentation will all be on an iPhone and it's quick and easy, we don't have to have laptops out here."
Their pharmacy team will administer doses based on each day's demand to ensure no vaccines are wasted.
In case of inclement weather, part of the emergency plan is to move staff to the baseball stadium. AmeriCorp, Kentucky National Guard, medical students and University Hospital will work together to make sure things run smoothly.
"We want to take as many people as we can and really the goal is to fill up every single slot," Shoff said.
To solve any traffic problems, UofL Health said they have an overflow lot on standby to ensure the site is not inconvenience to drivers or business owners in the neighborhood.
"That's why we chose the purple lot here because there's so much space," Shoff said.
The site will be closed on days with more traffic like UofL's graduation, Thurby, Oaks and Derby.
UofL Health will go through training and test-runs next week. Appointments are available for Kentuckians 16 and older. Anyone who wants a vaccine should visit UofLHealth.org or call (502) 681-1435.
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