‘A little bit of hope.’ Traveling medics help vaccinate SLO County against coronavirus
More than a month into coronavirus vaccinations in San Luis Obispo County, county Public Health Department clinics operate as well-oiled machines run by county workers, medical reserve corps volunteers and recently, state-assigned medical staff.
At each of the county’s three vaccination clinics, people drive up and are directed where to park. Clinic workers check their vaccine eligibility requirements (identification and proof that they live in San Luis Obispo County), then check them again two or more times.
People with vaccination appointments are given wristbands that indicate which vaccine type and dose they will be given, then are ushered into a room where 10 or so people receive coronavirus vaccines at once before being moved to a large observation area.
Shoresman said each site — located at Cuesta College San Luis Obispo, the Paso Robles Event Center and Arroyo Grande High School — requires at least 50 medical employees and volunteers to operate. That’s where the state-assigned medical staff comes in.
The California Department of Public Health sent 50 nurses and medical assistants to San Luis Obispo County from across the country through a program called SNAP Nurse.
Some are visiting the West Coast for the first time.
“I’ve never been this far away from home before,” Jasmine Wood, a registered nurse from Forest City, North Carolina said Friday at the county’s San Luis Obispo clinic.
Wood began travel nursing in March 2020, in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. She came to San Luis Obispo to serve as a staff lead at one of the county’s three vaccination clinics.
Wood’s job ranges from inoculating residents to observing people after vaccination.
“The joy of the job is seeing the patients so happy. You can see their eyes light up whenever they get their vaccine because many of them have been waiting, trying to schedule appointments,” Wood said. “It just gives them a little bit of hope.”
Kevin Dagene, a medical assistant from Lawrenceville, Georgia, said he too had never been to California before.
According to Dagene, the group of 50 have bonded over their willingness to help where help is needed.
“We’re just a whole bunch of people that don’t really know each other, that get together and have the same passion to go ahead and be there for others,” Dagene said in San Luis Obispo on Friday.
Prior to joining the SNAP Nurse program, Dagene was a dental assistant. He said the SNAP Nurse program allowed him both the chance to travel and help others.
“I love helping people,” Dagene said. “It gives me opportunities to see the world and also to do something I love, which is being there for others during this crisis, being something positive in society.”
The 50 nurses arrived in San Luis Obispo County just over two weeks ago and were assigned to a 60-day stay with the option for extended stay if needed, according to county public health spokesperson Michelle Shoresman.
Shoresman said the state paid to bring the nurses and pharmacy and administrative support staff to San Luis Obispo County at no cost to the county itself.
SLO County COVID-19 vaccinations limited by supply
Though San Luis Obispo County has three coronavirus vaccination sites that are set up to administer a total of 3,000 doses per day five days a week, limited supply dictated that the sites open only three days this week.
The previous week, only one facility was open due to supply.
The week of Feb. 8 through 12, the county received 4,395 doses of vaccine.
As of Feb. 12, 22,238 people in San Luis Obispo County have been vaccinated by the local Public Health Department, with more than 5,300 of those people having received a second dose of the vaccine, according to RecoverSLO.org.
As of Tuesday, Public Health is administering coronavirus vaccines to people age 65 and up and health care workers by appointment only.
To schedule an appointment, call 805-543-2444 or visit RecoverSLO.org.
Appointment schedules will be announced on weekdays around 9 a.m. as appointments become available on RecoverSLO.org and via county email alerts.
To sign up for email alerts, visit EmergencySLO.org/en/newsletter.aspx.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
