Mobile Vaccine Unit at St. Mary's Academy; $50 Gift Card to Wasco County Residents
For the first time, Wasco County has a mobile vaccine clinic with extensive hours of operation – it’s open six days a week, from noon to 6 p.m.
The mobile vaccine unit is at the St. Mary’s Academy parking lot, at 10th and Cherry Heights in The Dalles, and offers Pfizer (for ages 12 and up) and the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccines are free, and no ID or insurance is needed.
Wasco County residents, or those from out of state coming to work here (and their age-eligible family members) who get vaccinated will get a $50 VISA card. The VISA cards are paid for by Wasco County with vaccine incentive funds, which are federal dollars passed through the state and on to counties.
No appointments are needed, and people can walk in or drive-through for their free vaccine.
The clinic is open this Saturday and next Monday, June 14, from noon to 6 each day. Then, starting next Tuesday, June 15, it will be open Tuesdays through Sundays, from noon to 6 p.m. It is slated to remain there through July 14.
David Ruiz-Aguilar
Anyone who comes a bit after hours, as the unit is shutting down for the day, will not be turned away.
The mobile unit is jointly run by the Oregon Health Authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and One Community Health. The 30 people staffing the clinic hail from all across the country. Spanish translators are also on site, and the clinic is handicapped-accessible.
The various tents of the mobile clinic cover much of the St. Mary’s parking lot. On Tuesday, a busload of workers from a Wasco County orchard came to get vaccinated, as did individuals who drove up in cars. Another individual approached on foot seeking the vaccine. The clinic is set up to do two lanes of drive-up vaccines, plus walk-ins.
The facility has 24-hour security and vaccines are kept in a sterile trailer in specialized refrigerators. Vaccines are drawn as needed, and a single dedicated staffer, David Ruiz-Aguilar, pictured left, is in charge of running each drawn dose from the trailer to a nearby vaccinator, to prevent cross contamination.
The clinic has been in The Dalles since June 1, it was previously staged at One Community Health before moving to St. Mary’s, and has averaged 68 doses per day.
(For more information, please visit COVID-19 Vaccine in Oregon, contact North Central Public Health District at (541) 506-2600, visit us on the web at www.ncphd.org or find us on Facebook.)