On Tuesday, Benton County issued a statement reading:
Benton County and Samaritan Health Services are partnering to host another round of mass COVID-19 vaccinations at Reser Stadium on the Oregon State University campus Wednesday, March 31 through Friday, April 2. The clinic schedule is as follows:
- Wednesday, March 31 from 9:00 a.m – 5:00 p.m.
- Thursday, April 1 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- Friday, April 2 from 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
The clinic on Wednesday will administer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to currently eligible individuals. The clinic on Thursday will administer first doses of the Moderna vaccine to currently eligible individuals. The clinic on Friday will administer first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and second doses of Moderna to currently eligible individuals. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are not interchangeable.
On Friday, March 26, Governor Kate Brown announced that Phase 1b Group 7 will become eligible for vaccination beginning April 5. This transition will mark a change for how community members schedule vaccine appointments in Benton County.
Beginning Friday, April 2, at 5:00 p.m., Benton County will remove the vaccine needs assessment survey from its website and no longer require that individuals complete the survey to schedule an appointment. Everyone who submitted a survey through April 2 will be given an opportunity on Monday, April 5, and Tuesday, April 6, to schedule their vaccination.
On Wednesday, April 7, a live scheduling link will be posted to both the County’s COVID-19 website and www.samhealth.org/getthevaccine. Moving forward, all scheduling for Reser vaccine clinics will be made through the scheduling link, which asks individuals to self-attest that they are eligible for vaccination. Those without internet access can call the Samaritan Call Center at 855-441-2311 for assistance with scheduling their vaccine appointment.
At this time of publication, two questions still seem unclear:
- Will people already scheduled need to do anything, or will their appointments be honored?
- What will be the opportunity for scheduling appointments on April 5-6 for survey takers?
As we continue to find out these answers, they will be made available to readers.