Teacher and childcare worker vaccination site now open in St. Paul
There are 36 vaccination stations set up at Roy Wilkins Auditorium as National Guard members and public health care workers will try to vaccinate 15,000 teachers and child care workers over the next five days. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Teachers and childcare workers in Minnesota with appointments are now able to get the COVID-19 vaccine as St. Paul’s Roy Wilkins Auditorium has been converted into a vaccination site.
Minnesota health officials say the goal is to eventually get the vaccine distributed through pharmacies, clinics and primary care providers.
For now, however, the convention center used to hosting motorcycle and boat shows has been converted into a pop-up vaccination site in an effort to vaccinate about 15,000 front-line workers.
375 people will be vaccinated each hour in an effort to vaccinate 3,000 people per day over the next five days. There are 36 vaccination stations in the auditorium.
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Teachers and childcare workers can show up at Roy Wilkins Auditorium with a pre-scheduled appointment to receive their first dose of the vaccine. Everyone who arrives will get a fresh mask and have their temperature checked before meeting with a nurse at one of the 36 vaccination stations.
National Guard members will also be on hand to assist healthcare workers making sure things are running smoothly.
"This is a pilot event and we’re going to learn from it and kind of learn as we go," said Amanda Frie, of the Minnesota Department of Health. "We’ll adapt things as we need to throughout the day, tomorrow and throughout the weekend."
After getting their shot, each person will go into a special room to sit down and be observed for about 15 minutes just to make sure everything is going OK.
Patients will be receiving the Moderna vaccine and in 28 days, they’ll return to Roy Wilkins for their second dose.
This site is not open to the general public, but only those teachers and child care workers who were contacted to set up an appointment in advance.