LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Broadbent Arena in Louisville opened its drive-thru vaccination site on Saturday after this past week’s winter weather forced it to shut its doors twice. As a result, 1,000 second doses of the Moderna vaccine were given for rescheduled appointments.
“Others will be rescheduled and have already been scheduled for next week. We’re just trying to stay on that vaccine timeline,” said Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness’s (LMPHW) Deputy Director Connie Mendel.
Mendel said even though the second dose of the Moderna vaccine is supposed to be given out around day 28, there is no reason to panic if you get it a few days later.
“It doesn’t have to be exactly on day 28. It can be actually up to six weeks after the first dose. So there is plenty of time,” Mendel said.
Even though these appointments for those in phase 1A and 1B had to be rescheduled, Mendel said no COVID-19 vaccine doses were wasted.
“No, we have not wasted any vaccines since we’ve begun vaccinating. That is always our goal, zero waste,” Mendel said.
Louisville’s Mayor Greg Fischer also showed up Saturday to chat with those getting and giving the vaccine.
“I hope what Louisvillians are seeing is we are not going to waste any shots at all, and if we have bad weather we’re going to make up for it with more hours, maybe an additional day,” Fischer told Spectrum News 1. “You know, right now demand exceeds supply, but in the next month or two supply is going to start exceeding demand. So we’re going to have to open up more shifts and more spots in the community, and we’ll be ready to do that.”
There were 110 volunteers helping out at Broadbent Arena Saturday. Spokesperson Karl Bullock with LMPHW told Spectrum News 1 that by the end of Saturday the health department would have administered more than 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for the week.
In total, Bullock said 143,007 people have been vaccinated across the Louisville Metro area, which includes the Broadbent Arena mass vaccination site and hospital partners.
Mendel said Broadbent Arena still has plenty of room for expansion, but demand still exceeds supply.
“As more and more vaccine is available, we’ll be able to bring more people through,” Mendel said.