ALABAMA – Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon was on hand Friday morning at the Alabama State Fire College as a temporary drive-through clinic kicked off with the expectation of vaccinating 2,000 people through the weekend in Tuscaloosa.
Herndon and his wife both survived bouts with COVID-19 and both are still undergoing treatment for the effects of the virus.
“There’s still people that think this a bad version of the flu. Some people think it is a hoax. But I’ve had friends that have passed away from it. My wife has been out of the hospital for 10 weeks and she is having to be on oxygen for 10 hours day. Me, I had the blood clot part of it. You’ve just to take it seriously,” Herndon said.
The drive-through clinic is a joint effort between the city of Northport, the city of Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama State Fire College.
The vaccinations at the drive-through clinic are being made available to people in Phase 1a, 1b and people over 65 years of age. The Phase 1a and 1b eligibility is determined by the ADPH guidelines and include front-line health workers, first responders, corrections officers and support staff, food and agricultural workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, those working in manufacturing, grocery stores, public transportation, educators, judiciary employees, clergy and veterinarians.
“The county is proud to participate in this partnership effort to increase vaccination availability for those eligible according to ADPH in Tuscaloosa,” Probate Judge Rob Robertson said in a statement. “I thank the Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Fire College for supporting this expansion as we work through this critical task.”
Matt Russell, executive director of the Alabama Fire College, said, “It’s a great effort. The planning process has been going on for the last couple of months that is culminating over the next few days with over 2,000 vaccinations for the community members.
“A good number of people who work at the fire college are emergency responders. In our whole careers, we have solved problems, so we reached out to the EMA. We think we have a great facility for this. We have drive-through bays. We know the weather is going to be inclement and has been for the last week or so. We think we have a great facility inside our apparatus bay to administer the vaccinations.”
For more information on the clinic, people inside the Tuscaloosa city limits can call Tuscaloosa 311, while those outside the city limits can call 205-248-5311. People can also email [email protected].
