DOTHAN, Ala. — A pediatric office in Fairhope is stepping up to administer COVID-19 vaccines to the public.
It’s the only vaccine site that’s not a hospital or health department in Baldwin County that’s doing this right now.
Katrina skinner at Fairhope pediatrics currently has 300 Moderna vaccines ready to go.
Although they’re only available to those who are eligible like first responders, health care workers, and people 75 and older, she says pediatricians are a great workforce to use in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Pediatricians give tons of vaccines a year. Pediatricians are already equipped to store, inventory, and manage vaccines. Pediatricians know how to council about vaccines. We are already set up to transmit our vaccine data to our state registries on a continuous basis,” Katrina Skinner, with Fairhope Pediatrics, said.
In fact, in Dothan, Alabama, it’s already happening.
Dothan pediatric clinic is one of largest vaccine providers in the state.
“We give tons of vaccine a year. Our clinic gives about 60,000 shots a year,” Michael Ramsey, with Dothan Pediatric Clinic, shared.
They were actually listed as a COVID- 19 vaccine clinic by accident but since they had the resources and staff already, they contacted the state and partnered up with the city of Dothan to mass distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re finishing up our first week so as of yesterday, we had given 1170 doses so by the end of the day we’ll be close to 1500 doses,” Ramsey added.
The issue many pediatricians are facing right now is insurance.
“Whenever I get permission from an insurance company to work with them, I establish a contract. It’s for a specific location. For instance, it’s here in my office. I can’t go to a remote location and provide services and expect the insurance company to pay me for that,” Skinner shared.
To hold a vaccination clinic outside their office, there would be a credentialing process that could take 90 to 120 days, but Skinner says people who want the vaccine can try to get the ball rolling.
“I think people need to reach out to Blue Cross, Medicare, and other insurance carriers to ask them to waive the location restriction,” Skinner added.
