FISHERS — Leaders with local health departments say they are ready to begin administering additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state would begin getting 13,000 additional doses each week. The mayor of Fishers said his city and health department have been planning and preparing for any increase in supply describes vaccination efforts as “aggressive and proactive.”
“We started pre-planning months ago to really excel at this aspect of the pandemic,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said.
The Fishers Health Department released a survey to residents earlier this month as they worked to evaluate vaccine interest.
They used that information to create a database of seniors who need special accommodations to access the vaccine. It also allowed them to create a standby list of people who are willing to show up at the end of the day if there are extra available doses.
On Monday, the city opened a mass vaccination clinic that the state will be using to help administer the vaccine. Then, on Wednesday members of the Fishers Fire Department went to an assisted living facility to bring the shot directly to Hoosiers there.
“It is all about mission and values," Fishers Fire Department Chief Steven Orusa said. "We realize that we are an all-hazards organization. Whether it’s a fire, flood, tornado, or pandemic, behavioral health issues, opioid epidemic, we are in a great position to fill that gap and meet the needs of our community.”
Orusa said next week they hope to begin bringing vaccines to seniors who are unable to leave their homes. They already have a list of residents in need from the survey earlier this month. Right now they are just waiting on an increase in supply.
“We need more vaccine. The more vaccine we get the more effective we can be,” Orusa said.
The city could begin receiving some of those additional doses as soon as next week.
It is unclear how many additional doses the Fishers Health Department could receive, but Indiana will soon begin getting around 13,000 additional doses each week. That’s about a 16% percent increase from the current supply.
Fadness said they are ready to expand their vaccination efforts well beyond that increase.
“We are going to do our part and do all that we can with the resources we have and then when more vaccine becomes available, we will scale up and we should be able to handle anything that the state and federal government is willing to provide to us," Fadness said. "We will be able to not only provide for our Fishers residents quickly but really anyone in the region or state that needs that. We will be there doing it until everybody gets a shot."
