TuscBDD hosted a COVID-19 vaccine clinic
Kaylee receives TuscBDD services and received her COVID-19 vaccine on recently at the TuscBDD and New Philadelphia Health Department vaccine clinic.
The Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities is partnering with the New Philadelphia City Health Department and the Tuscarawas County Health Department to assist in vaccination efforts for adults with developmental disabilities who qualify for a vaccine as part of the phase IB roll-out.
During this phase individuals who have a developmental disability and certain congenital, developmental or early-onset and inherited conditions qualify to register for a vaccine.
Last Thursday TuscBDD hosted a COVID-19 vaccine clinic where the New Philadelphia Health Department administered doses to eligible individuals.
A total of 29 New Philadelphia residents were scheduled to be vaccinated at the clinic, and all 29 vaccines were administered. The space was converted into an area for vaccine administration and observation where approximately 10 TuscBDD employees volunteered to safely help register and direct people as they came in for their vaccine while nurses from the New Philadelphia Health Department administered the vaccines.
TuscBDD superintendent Nate Kamban said he was grateful to the New Philadelphia Health Department for taking the extra step to come onsite to administer vaccines.
“When you work as a government employee, you are considered a public servant. Our health departments truly exemplify this role of public servant, and we appreciate their efforts. We are fortunate to have a collaboration with the Tuscarawas County Health Department as well. They also prioritized the vaccine for people with disabilities and administered 39 doses last week at their own location,” Kamban said.
TuscBDD has been working with the health departments for the last year in an effort to keep everyone that receives services, staff members and provider agencies safe and informed.
“They have prioritized working and meeting with us on a weekly basis, and without their expertise, keeping everyone safe and informed would have been a whole lot harder,” Kamban said.
The second dose of vaccines from the New Philadelphia Health Department will be administered in the same location on Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
“Our staff has reached out to the people we serve to discuss vaccines, but we want to also encourage anyone who receives services and is eligible to receive a vaccine at this time to reach out to us for any additional information they may need,” Kamban said.