Cape Cod Healthcare is performing the critical, yet uplifting work of vaccinating the community
There’s a steady stream of cars driving into the entrance of Cape Cod Community College, the site of the Cape’s largest COVID-19 vaccination clinic. ; After a quick stop at a guarded checkpoint, cars are directed around the campus to Parking Lot 10, the first stop on their journey beyond COVID-19.
Patients are then directed to enter the large gymnasium outfitted with a roped-off pathway leading to a registration table. It’s there where they wait, poised at the on-ramp to the road to normalcy.
Slideshow: In Your Own Words, Vaccination clinic volunteers
;
clinci
To date, more than 26,000 first and second doses of vaccine have been distributed to Cape Cod Healthcare employees, community healthcare providers, clergy members ;and residents including those identified as most vulnerable on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Healthcare and its partners from the Cape Cod Regional Vaccine Consortium, including Barnstable County, community health centers and our state legislative delegation, have led the way to take Barnstable County from one of the lowest to one of the highest vaccination rates in the state. This consortium is focused on delivering the COVID-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable residents of Cape Cod. An effort is also underway to target those who are homebound in the community.
The consortium is also planning three clinics in the next month dedicated to vaccinating educators and childcare workers on Cape Cod, with CCHC staff administering vaccines at the Cape Cod Community College site.
“Since March 1, 8,000 doses of the vaccine have been provided by a small, but dynamic team of Cape Cod Healthcare staff,” said Lori Jewett, chief operating officer and senior vice president of operations
of Cape Cod Healthcare. The CCHC team is comprised of pharmacy, nurses, scheduling, security, facilities, IT and support staff.
“These clinics are a testament to the power of collaboration and possibility,” Jewett said. “We are so proud to play a role in preventing COVID-19 in our community.”
Inside the vaccination site, the gratitude of the public is palpable. Neighbors eagerly express relief and thanks to everyone from security to the nurses administering the shots. ;
While the road to normalcy may seem to stretch ahead for miles, the beginning of the end of this pandemic is evident while still complimented by an important tone of caution for the days and weeks the lie between.
Diligence with masking, distancing and hygiene are still needed, but as Cape Cod Healthcare continues vaccinating the community against COVID-19, everyone moves that much closer to a safer destination.
