Post University says this will be the first drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site in New Haven County.
From tents to trailers to traffic cones, parts of Post University in Waterbury have been transformed into a mass vaccination site.
“It's a pretty significant undertaking. The logistics are mind-boggling,” said John Hopkins, Post University CEO and president.
Starting Monday, school staff are helping with logistics as nurses from Waterbury Health administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I don't know as though anybody has ever been involved in anything quite like this, but we couldn't sit back. I think Post took the perspective that we needed to get involved. We could, and so we did. It's what the community needed,” said Hopkins.
This week, they hope to vaccinate 500 people a day and work up to eventually giving out up to 2,000 doses a day depending on vaccine availability.
The university said this will be the first drive-thru site in New Haven County.
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“All the logistics of the design so that from registration to vaccine to monitoring, you stay in the car and you get your shot in the car and so it should expedite things and help us vaccinate that many more people,” said Hopkins.
Right now, people age 75 and older are eligible as part of the state’s Phase 1b plan. That will be expanded to other groups in the coming weeks and months.
As of last week, the state had administered more than a quarter-million doses and ranked fourth nationally for distribution.
“The important thing is that we have to get a significant number of people vaccinated. This vaccination won't work unless we have a significant number of people vaccinated. We're hoping that 70, 75, 80% of the Greater Waterbury community gets vaccinated,” said Hopkins.
The site at Post University will be open six days a week and will run for months.
Those looking to head there need to register and that can be done directly with Waterbury Health online or by phone at 203-575-5250, Ext. 4.
