photo by: Ashley Golledge

LMH Health has set up a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination center at the northwest corner of its campus. The drive-thru center is pictured on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

Though LMH Health hasn’t received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine yet, the Lawrence hospital is anticipating that it will be able to vaccinate between 200 and 300 people a day at its new drive-thru vaccination center.

Christina Crowley, director of pharmacy at LMH Health, spoke to the Journal-World Tuesday morning at the site of the new drive-thru on the northwest corner of the hospital’s campus. Crowley said that the date and time of vaccine arrival at LMH Health is still unknown, but that she was told to expect a call with more information either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.

“All of us have been waiting for this for months. All of us are trying to find a new normal, and the COVID-19 vaccination is the first step,” she said.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Christina Crowley, director of pharmacy at LMH Health, discusses the hospital’s new drive-thru vaccination center on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

As the Journal-World has reported, LMH Health is the primary vaccination site for Phase 1A of Douglas County’s vaccination process, which will include health care personnel, EMTs, paramedics and law enforcement officers and firefighters who respond to medical calls.

When these individuals come to LMH Health for their vaccines, they will enter the parking lot off 330 Arkansas St. and drive north until they reach a check-in station. From there, they will continue into the north lot, where they will sign a consent form. Then the patients will proceed under an awning where they will receive the vaccine. Finally, the patients will have to wait in an observation area to ensure they do not have an allergic reaction. LMH Health spokeswoman Amy Northrop said patients with a history of anaphylactic reactions to vaccines would have to wait 30 minutes in the observation area; all other patients would have to wait 15 minutes.

The whole process should take between 25 and 40 minutes, Crowley said. The vaccination site will have three lanes available, but only two will be running at a time; one of the lanes is designated for larger vehicles that might have trouble navigating under the awning.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

LMH Health has set up a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination center at the northwest corner of its campus. The drive-thru center is pictured on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

The drive-thru will be open Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the site will be open from 7:30 a.m. to noon, and it will be closed for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

In order for the Pfizer vaccine to work properly, people have to receive two separate doses of it. Crowley said there will be a specialized process to ensure that patients who receive the first dose of the vaccine will also get the second dose. She also said they won’t receive both doses at the same time.

“The shipment will not come all at once. We will get (the) dose one shipment, and the state is regulating when that second dose will be shipped,” she said.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

LMH Health has set up a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination center at the northwest corner of its campus. The drive-thru center is pictured on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

There’s a procedure in place in case someone who is ineligible to receive the vaccine arrives at the center, Crowley said. LMH Health will provide a handout to the patient with more information on how the vaccination program works, and the patient will be asked to come back through the drive-thru center when it is their designated time to receive the vaccine.

When asked why LMH Health decided to use a drive-thru center as opposed to an indoor vaccination area, Crowley said it was about ease and convenience, and also about setting a good example.

“We also wanted to maintain the image that it’s very important to continue social distancing,” she said, noting that if the vaccination center had been indoors, it could seem like the hospital was promoting large indoor gatherings.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

LMH Health has set up a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination center at the northwest corner of its campus. The drive-thru center is pictured on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

Crowley said that though the vaccine has arrived in Kansas, it’s still important to wear masks and maintain social distancing “because we’ve got to make sure that the majority of the public is vaccinated before we can (relax) our proper procedures.”

It’s exciting and relieving to be part of the vaccination process, Crowley said, but it’s also anxiety-inducing to still be waiting for the vaccine to be delivered when colleagues in other Kansas hospitals have already received it.

“When is it going to be our turn? We’re ready,” Crowley said. “We want our vaccine, and so we would just love to hear the news of when it’s going to arrive.”