Pulaski County’s first doses of COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive Thursday. “It’s not as much as we were hoping, but we’re excited to get it and to get started,” Terri Hansen with the Pulaski County Health Department told the county commissioners Monday.
She said the county will get a shipment every week for the first month, and then the shipments will double when it’s time for residents to get their second doses. While some health care workers have already been able to get the first doses of the vaccine, Hansen said the first group to use the clinic to be set up at the Knights of Columbus Building will be first responders, including police officers, EMS staff, and volunteer firefighters.
As for who gets it next, Hansen said it’s ultimately up to the Indiana Department of Health. “Each week, they’re going to send us the next group of people who will be ready, and whether that’s 75 and older or school teachers who it is, we’re not sure,” she explained. “Like I say, we don’t know until the state lets us know, and they’ll dictate everything. That’s not a decision that we’ll make locally.”
Hansen said Pulaski County’s gotten $40,000 from the Indiana Department of Health to hire temporary workers to run the clinic, but they also need volunteers. Anyone interested in helping can call 574-946-6080 or send a message to the Pulaski County Health Department Facebook page.
Additionally, Hansen said a husband and wife have even offered to donate their COVID-19 stimulus checks to the health department’s response efforts. Emergency Management Agency Director Sheri Gaillard reported that the county’s Incident Management Team has so far gotten about $60,000 worth of personal protective equipment for first responders from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and other sources.
The Incident Management Team has still only used about $2,400 of the $100,000 appropriated by the county council last year. But Gaillard said it will soon be spending about $700 a month to pay for utilities and cleaning at the Star City Community Center, which is being used as a free COVID-19 testing site. She said it remains open Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
