KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Some people in the Kansas City area are frustrated about the availability and process for getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
The University of Kansas Health System hopes to help speed up the vaccination process with the opening a mass vaccination clinic.
"I'm very excited to get this shot because (I've been) missing my family, gatherings, just going out in public and not have to worry about contracting the virus," George Ramirez, who received the vaccine Tuesday, said.
It's an especially important development for populations at risk for more severe outcomes from a COVID-19 infection.
"I got an email over the weekend a couple of days ago and I was really surprised, but I was very happy that I am a KU patient, and I was called in to make an appointment and come in," Connie Haug, who also got the vaccine Tuesday, said.
The University of Kansas Health System began vaccinating patients 65 years old and older at the new clinic this week.
"Our goal at the University of Kansas Health System vaccine clinic is to vaccinate about 1,000 patients per day," Adam Meier, KU Health System's director of nursing-ambulatory operations, said. "Our goal is to vaccinate here on campus about 5,000 per week."
KU Hospital recently started alerting some of the older patients who've been treated there during the last three years.
"Individuals can schedule through MyChart when they receive their notification that they are eligible to get scheduled for a vaccination," Meier said. "They can also call our health resource line.
Ramirez and Haug are among those who see the vaccine as their lifeline to getting back to normal.
"I got the coronavirus vaccine to protect myself, but not only myself, my family and anyone else I may come into contact with," Haug said.
Ramirez added, "Being away from family is hard, and it has been on everybody else. It's good to have this first shot, see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's great."
KU Health System hopes to open a second vaccination clinic at its KU Hospital at the Indian Creek Campus location in Overland Park soon.
For those who are not a former KU Health patient or haven't been seen at the hospital in the last three years, KU Hospital has created an online form to check eligibility and schedule an appointment, if you qualify and a spot is available.
