‘A shot of hope.’ UK starts vaccinating thousands at Kroger Field. Here’s how it works.
Beneath the Kroger Field stands, University of Kentucky volunteers and staff began vaccinating local residents against COVID-19 on Tuesday at the university’s new, centralized vaccine distribution center.
Many of those who received the vaccine Tuesday praised the university’s process as easy and efficient. The nearly paperless sign-up, invitation and actual vaccination process is efficient because UK mandates that those who arrive for a vaccine have a pre-scheduled appointment, officials said.
“Having that appointment ahead of time is critical to avoiding these long lines,” said Joe Monroe, the chief of the university police department. “So if you have an appointment, we want you to stay within that window. Because what that does is that helps avoid long lines out in the parking lot of people waiting for extended periods of time that you see in other sites.”
How do I set up my COVID-19 vaccine appointment?
You can sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment in UK HealthCare’s online portal at this link: https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/covid-19/vaccine.
The information input into the portal will be entered into a database where UK HealthCare can evaluate individual requests and issue emailed invitations based on the state’s phased plan, the page states. Those who can’t access the online form or need assistance filling it out can call 859-218-0111.
“Invitations will be issued on a rolling basis and are dependent on how many vaccines are allocated to UK HealthCare on a weekly basis and the number of qualified applicants in the queue,” the webpage states.
Be patient. Regional healthcare workers, those older than 70 and K-12 employees in Fayette County or those who fall into phases 1A and 1B of the state’s plan are currently being prioritized to receive the vaccine.
By Saturday night — one day after UK enabled members of the public to make appointments — the university had received nearly 50,000 requests for an appointment, said Dr. Ashley Montgomery-Yates, the assistant chief medical officer for UK HealthCare.
“Each night we go back and we look at who falls into each category,” Montgomery-Yates said, “Who’s registered as a 1A? Who’s registered as a 1B? And then those people get invited first, and then we sort of move down each category every night based on the availability of slots for that week.”
After the first night of requests, UK officials sent out around 10,000 invitations. Of those, Montgomery-Yates said around 8,000 went to K-12 school personnel, 1,500 to healthcare workers and the rest went to those older than 70.
If you receive an invitation, you’ll be asked to pick an available time slot for when you can come to Kroger Field. The number of invitations UK can send out is dependent on the number of available doses.
What do I do when I arrive at Kroger Field?
Those receiving the vaccine should park in the Blue Lot and proceed down the tunnel of white tents that leads to the football field’s Gate 11 — this is on the side of the stadium which faces Alumni Drive. UK also performs drive-in COVID-19 testing for the community and students in the same parking lot on an appointment basis.
Those arriving for an appointment should wear a mask and bring their ID. After a sign-in process inside Gate 11, those being vaccinated will proceed to a clinic in the Club Area — which in more normal times is a sort of lounge for football spectators beneath Kroger Field’s sections 25-27.
You’ll be directed to one of 28 stations where you will receive the vaccine from a member of a team of UK nurses, nursing students, pharmacists, pharmacy students, physicians and physicians’ assistants. Dr. Philip Almeter, UK HealthCare’s chief pharmacist, said there is not currently a process in place for the university to accept licensed volunteers from outside UK.
After receiving the vaccine, you’ll be asked to sit and wait for at least 15 minutes in one of several chairs which sit in the middle of the room, so that staff will have a chance to see if one of the recently vaccinated has a bad reaction.
On Tuesday, officials were able to vaccinate nearly 250 people per hour, Monroe said. The goal is vaccinate close to 1,800 to 2,000 people per day.
“The set-up is super well-run,” said Saralyn Kingsolver, a Fayette County Public Schools employee, who was vaccinated on Tuesday. “The signage was great it was very efficient. Everybody was very helpful.”
How do I get my second shot?
Both of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines — from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — require a second booster shot a few weeks after the first shot to insure full effectiveness.
Those who receive a vaccine at Kroger Field will get a card which has a date for when approximately they should start to schedule for their second booster shot. According to an online FAQ, those receiving the second shot should fill out an appointment request a week prior to that date which will include a button to request a booster shot.
UK HealthCare will send an additional invitation where the person receiving the vaccine can pick a day that’s convenient to them.
You do not have to get your second shot on the exact recommended date, Almeter said.
“It can lag days later,” Almeter said. “The key is that you eventually get that booster dose and your full immune response should take place seven to 14 days after the second dose.”
UK is currently not planning on opening a drive-through vaccine clinic, Almeter said.
“The reason being is that that is a very inefficient way to distribute vaccines,” Almeter said. “Some sites are doing it. But we cannot do 80 to 85 (people) every 20 minutes if it’s a drive through.”
The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
After receiving his COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday, Fayette County Public Schools’ board chairman Tyler Murphy posted on Facebook:
“Did my part as an educator to help us move past this pandemic. Grateful to Governor Andy Beshear and our public health officials for prioritizing our K-12 staff and to UK for orchestrating such a smooth distribution process. This is truly a shot of hope after so many difficult months.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 5:42 PM.