COVID vaccine comes to Garrison and Washburn
BY RALPH MANCINI and TYSON SMEDSTAD
Vaccine availability in Garrison
Garrison hospital is giving out COVID-19 vaccines to employees that would like it.
“It is not mandatory at this time for all employees to be vaccinated, but we are working our way through employees who want it and are able to receive it,” Clinic Coordinator Cindy Melhoff said.
The Mederma vaccine is being used in Garrison since the hospital does not have the storage capabilities to store the Pfizer vaccine at the correct temperature.
If any area residents are hoping to receive the vaccine, it will be available.
“Hopefully by the end of January (for the general public). Right now our allocations are for hospital employees and nursing facility swing bed residents,” Melhoff said. “But if people are interested in receiving the vaccine, they can call the clinic at 463-2245 and have their names added to a list and when we are at the point of it becoming availble to to the public we will give those people a call to schedule an appointment for them.”
It is noted that the vaccine takes approximately 30 minutes.
“Once they receive the vaccination, they need to sit for about 20 minutes to make sure they don’t have any adverse reactions,” Melhoff said. “So they do need to be monitored after they receive the vaccination.”
The hospital is following the tiers set by the North Dakota Department of Health, so the next allotcation of vaccines will be offered to anyone 75 years of age and older and people who have high risk of being infected with COVID-19.
