Columbus Regional Health is beginning to phase out its COVID-19 vaccination clinic near the hospital campus in Columbus, citing declining local demand for the shots.
This week, CRH will start gradually reducing the hours of operation of the clinic, located at 1702 Keller Ave., as part of a plan to gradually phase out vaccinations at the clinic by August, said CRH spokesman Joel Philippsen.
Starting Tuesday, the clinic will be open three days per week, CRH officials said. The site has operated Monday to Saturday since December.
The clinic will then move to two days per week in July, with the last day for first doses on July 9, Philippsen said. The last official day of the clinic will be July 30 allowing health officials to administer the remaining second doses.
Appointment and walk-in hours will be posted online at crh.org/vaccine.
“As demand for vaccinations has declined state wide, and locally, we have put together a plan to methodically phase out the Keller Avenue Vaccine Clinic and transition COVID-19 vaccinations into our primary care offices,” Philippsen said. “Vaccinations will become part of our patient care operations, very similarly to how other vaccines are administered.”
CRH plans to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at primary care offices after the clinic closes and will follow all state guidelines for storage and distribution, Philippsen said.
The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for storage at regular refrigerator temperatures for up to 28 days, he said.
The announcement comes as the number of Bartholomew County residents becoming fully vaccinated each week continues to drop, declining from a peak of 3,306 the week of May 2 to 1,857 last week, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The number of people getting their first shots also has declined in recent weeks, reaching some of the lowest levels seen since the vaccine roll-out started in December.
Last week, a total of 1,016 Bartholomew County residents got their first COVID-19 shot and 70 received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to state figures.
By comparison, 3,323 first doses were administered to Bartholomew County residents the week of April 4, though 924 people that week were vaccinated at a mass vaccination clinic at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Last month, CRH officials said they were anticipating a drop-off in demand for COVID-19 vaccines by mid-May, reflecting similar trends seen nationwide that show declining interest in the shots.
The drop-off in demand, local health officials said, is concerning as the county and state are still well below the threshold experts believe is needed to stop uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
“It is concerning because clearly we’re not even close to that percentage that we need to be at for herd immunity, or, to be honest, even to feel comfortable, if there is such a thing,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue in a previous interview. “We definitely want to reinvigorate our efforts to continue to keep pushing the vaccine.”
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Visit crh.org/vaccine for more information about appointment and walk-in hours at Columbus Regional Health’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
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