2,000 seniors to get COVID vaccine at Johnson County megachurch this weekend
About 2,000 residents age 65 and older will get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a Johnson County church on Saturday as health officials turn their attention to vaccinating more seniors.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission will administer the Pfizer vaccine during a clinic at the spacious Church of the Resurrection in Leawood.
Prominently displayed on the hospital’s website is this message: “Vaccine appointments are currently full.” Only people who registered and received a confirmation email will get into the clinic. No walk-ins are allowed.
The hospital is one of the local health systems the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment provided with vaccine to expand its distribution efforts.
The county has also partnered with the University of Kansas Health System and Olathe to help start vaccinating people 65 and older, moving beyond the seniors age 80 and older who started getting vaccinated by the health department last week.
County health officials said the hospitals will receive vaccine over the coming weeks when it’s available, but supplies continue to be limited. Late last week, though, the county received an additional 4,000 doses that it distributed to the hospitals for their clinics, county health officials said.
The KU health system is vaccinating people with its share of those doses at a clinic it recently opened on its Kansas City, Kansas, campus. Next week it will open another one at its Indian Creek campus, 10730 Nall Ave. in Overland Park, said spokeswoman Jill Chadwick.
KU can vaccinate 500 patients a day at each location, and as many as 10,000 patients per week, Chadwick said — if doses are available.
The clinics come as Kansas moved into Phase 2 of its distribution plan, a large group that includes essential workers and seniors 65 and older.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission contacted some of its high-risk patients 80 and older for its first clinic, then opened it up to members of the public age 65 and older to fill remaining spots, said hospital spokeswoman Morgan Shandler.
“Our greatest challenge at this point, of course, is that the demand for vaccine simply far outweighs the supply,” said Shandler.
A message on the Olathehealth.org website also says that “all our current vaccine appointments are full. As we receive more supply of vaccines, we will open up new appointments.”
Anyone interested in receiving the vaccine from AdventHealth in the future can fill out the AdventHealth COVID-19 Alerts form at AdventHealth.com and the Johnson County COVID-19 vaccination interest form at jocogov.org/covid-19-vaccine.
The hospital doesn’t have any more clinics scheduled yet and is scouting future locations depending on how much vaccine it receives, hospital officials said.
For information about how to register for future clinics through KU, go to kansashealthsystem.com.
For information about clinics through Olathe Health, go to Olathehealth.org.
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