COVID vaccinations without appointments may become a regular option in St. Clair County
St. Clair County officials may decide to allow people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at its mass drive-thru clinic without an appointment on a regular basis after a trial run Tuesday.
Anyone 16 years old and older who lives, works or attends school in Illinois is eligible to get the vaccine at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, 200 S. Belt East in Belleville. Usually, they need to make an appointment on a specific date and time either online or by phone. But the county opened up its mass COVID-19 vaccination site to people without appointments for this Tuesday only, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Herb Simmons, director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, said he may recommend allowing walk-ins “several more days a week.” First, he wants to evaluate the level of interest and any strain on the site’s staff Tuesday.
By about 12 p.m., an estimated 130 people had come to the fairgrounds without appointments, according to Simmons. And about 1,000 people with appointments were scheduled to arrive throughout the day, the emergency management agency director said.
The county increased staffing at the vaccination site for the day, so Simmons said he did not anticipate an added stress on the workforce.
“There’s been no problems brought to my attention,” he said Tuesday at noon.
How walk-in vaccinations work in Belleville
Officials set up a separate drive-thru lane for people who had made vaccination appointments for Tuesday. They expected that “express lane” to move quicker than the lane for walk-ins.
The process took slightly longer for people without appointments because staff needed to register them before administering the shot. Simmons said the Illinois National Guard members who assist the site gave some of the walk-ins instructions to register themselves as they waited in line in their cars. When they finished that process, they could move into the express lane, Simmons said.
“We’re only talking a few minutes,” Simmons said of the added wait time for walk-ins.
Georgee Blankenship, of Belleville, had worried about traffic and a longer wait for her appointment Tuesday morning to get her second dose. But she said that was not the case when she arrived.
“I was very pleased with how things went today,” she said. “... It was a great experience, and now I’m very happy that maybe my grandson or his group in their 20s will drive up and get their vaccinations.”
Blankenship said she hopes the county decides to continue allowing walk-in vaccinations.
“If they can drive up like it’s a drive-up restaurant, then I think more people are going to do it,” she said. “That is a great convenience and then people can do it on their time.”
St. Clair County’s goal is to get more people vaccinated
Local leaders have said that the supply issues they experienced when vaccines first hit the market are no longer a concern. Now, they worry about unused vaccination appointments.
St. Clair County is capable of vaccinating 4,000 people a day at the fairgrounds, and even more if they added another drive-thru lane, according to county leaders.
But as of Monday, they were seeing an average of 1,356 people come through the site, according to vaccination numbers from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which can be delayed.
Simmons said allowing walk-ins was part of the county’s effort to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
“It’s another way to get needles in arms,” he said. “That’s our mission.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 1:50 PM with the headline "COVID vaccinations without appointments may become a regular option in St. Clair County."
