Dr. Bruce Peek, a cardiologist who serves on the board of Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition, said he started thinking about how to vaccinate homebound older adults as soon as health officials began discussing the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The nonprofit serves about 2,200 older adults in the Verde Valley with essential transportation, home safety checks, shopping assistance and other help.
Peek knew that some of the people VVCC serves would have difficulty navigating even the most well-organized vaccination system, since many don’t own computers or would have difficulty traveling to vaccination sites.
On March 1, many months of planning by the nonprofit came to fruition as a mobile team from VVCC, working in partnership with Spectrum Healthcare, administered the valley’s first 12 in-home COVID vaccinations. Peek said it’s one of the first rural mobile vaccination programs in the country that he’s aware of.
The mobile vaccination team carried vials of the Moderna vaccine in a small drink cooler with cold packs on the bottom. Peek said Moderna’s vaccine is well-suited for mobile vaccinations, since it requires only regular refrigeration, and the doses are good for up to six hours after the vial is pierced.
VVCC has three vaccination teams trained, and it will be administering vaccines four days a week.
Peek said the group plans to train up to eight vaccination teams and administer vaccines five days a week. If the group can administer 40 vaccines a day, Peek said, all of the homebound adults in the Verde Valley could be vaccinated by mid-summer, contingent on access to vaccine doses.
Spectrum Healthcare in Cottonwood is supplying VVCC with the vaccine and supplies and is registering the individuals receiving the vaccines.
Peek said access to the vaccine was the biggest hurdle the group faced in setting up the mobile program.
“Even getting 15 to 20 doses [per day] was very hard to get hold of,” he said, but vaccine availability has improved.
Putting together teams of qualified individuals was another challenge, since each team needs a licensed medical provider and someone to handle the documentation involved. According to Peek, many retired nurses have stepped up to fill the need.
“There’s been a tremendous response to volunteerism in the Verde Valley,” he said.
Peek said that if anyone knows of a homebound adult in the Verde Valley who needs an in-home vaccination, they should contact VVCC at 204-1238. “You don’t have to be a client of VVCC” to receive a mobile vaccine, Peek said.
