SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Health Metropolitan Health District opened the doors to their vaccine rollout back in December with an abundance of volunteer support. However, that support is now dwindling down at a time when even more volunteers are needed the most.
Volunteer coordinator for Metro Health Evelyn Garza said the manpower is still needed.
“The demand for the vaccine is still out there in the community. There is still a high demand for the vaccine, but the manpower to deliver the vaccine is declining,” said Garza.
Garza said medical and non-medical volunteers play a crucial role in vaccine distribution operations. She said in December, they had 90 volunteers per shift, per day. Today, it’s a completely different situation.
“Today we had about 25 this morning and about 13 in the afternoon,” said Garza.
The Alamodome vaccination is not alone in the need for more help. WellMed Vice President of Social Responsibility Brittany Platt said they are experiencing the same decline in volunteers.
“We’ve had a steady stream of people willing to help, but for some reason, for the past five to seven days, we’ve seen a decline there. I don’t really know exactly why. I do think it has something to do with the increase in supply but what has not changed is there are people coming in every day who want that shot,” said Pratt.
Both agencies said the goal is to get as many people as possible vaccinated, taking the least amount of time. Pratt said they want their clients in and out within 25 minutes.
“Without sufficient amount of people power, we can’t meet that goal and we want everybody in and out in a safe and effective manner and it takes a lot of people to do that,” said Pratt.
To become a volunteer, you can register at these links below:
- Admin/Runner: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4ba9ae22aaf49-admin
- Healthcare Provider: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4ba9ae22aaf49-covid1 Access Code: HCPCOVDOME
- Logistics: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4ba9ae22aaf49-logistics Access Code: GEOEVE
- Mobile Program: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4ba9ae22aaf49-mobile Access Code: MOBILEPROGRAM
- For questions or group signups, email COVIDVOLUNTEERS@SanAntonio.gov.
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