MIDLAND, Texas — Midland Memorial Hospital received nearly 6,000 Pfizer vaccines on January 21 while Medical Center received 3,900 Pfizer vaccines the same day. The plan to start administering the vaccines as soon as possible. Midland and Odessa will be operating a little differently.
In Midland, the Horseshoe will be home to a slow rollout of vaccine distribution starting January 22 before ramping up on January 25.
"The slow roll is just to make sure we’ve got everything in place, and we’re looking at bringing 1,000 people in a day. We need to be sure we’ve got enough vaccinators, we’ve got enough preparers, we’ve got enough IT people, we’ve got enough volunteers," Val Sparks, MMH infection preventionist said.
However, in order to get the vaccine at the Horseshoe, you must fall into the Phase 1A or 1B group, and you have to register online at midlandhealth.org/vaccine before showing up. You will not receive a vaccine if you have not registered.
"We are already sending out notices for individuals for Monday and Tuesday I know of for next week. Then and this is all done via text or email, those who've registered online through the health department, those people were brought over," Sparks said.
Meanwhile in Odessa, you don't have to register ahead of time to get vaccinated at Ratliff Stadium starting January 24, but it will make the process move faster.
"We still want you to come out there. We have a line of not registered folks and just because you didn’t register doesn't mean you can’t get it. It’s just gonna be a longer process," Russell Tippin, MCH CEO and president said.
To make things run as efficiently as possible, people will remain in their cars the entire time if they choose to go to Ratliff to get vaccinated.
"You’re going to stay in your vehicle the entire time from the time you pull into the stadium all the way through to what we’re calling our recovery area for your 15 to 30 minutes observation. We really want you to stay in your vehicle," Christin Timmons, MCH chief nursing officer said.
To register to get vaccinated at Ratliff, you can find the registration form here.