The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
Today the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) has expanded the next priority groups within Phase 2 of the State of Oklahoma’s priority population framework. Teachers and staff in Pre-K-12 schools and other educational settings and Oklahomans age 16 and older with comorbidities are now eligible to secure an appointment in the Oklahoma Vaccine Portal or with a pandemic partner.
OSDH estimates that there are 89,000 Oklahomans who qualify as teachers and staff, and just over 1 million Oklahomans with comorbidities who qualify for this group. Public health officials appreciate your patience as it may take some time to vaccinate these groups.
The Tulsa Health Department has partnered with Saint Francis Health System, Passport Health and Total Wellness to safely and efficiently vaccinate the estimated 15,483 teachers and staff in pre-K-12 schools in Tulsa County with appointment availability beginning Wednesday, February 24th.
Information regarding how teachers and staff can schedule an appointment has been provided to each school superintendent within Tulsa County.
Total Wellness is administering the vaccines to Broken Arrow, Collinsville, Skiatook, Sperry, Owasso, Keystone, Sand Springs, Berryhill, Jenks, Bixby and EPIC Charter School staff.
Passport Health and the Tulsa Health Department are administering the vaccines to Tulsa Public Schools, Union, Glenpool, Liberty and any remaining public and charter school districts within Tulsa County.
Saint Francis Health System will administer the vaccine to private and parochial school districts within Tulsa County.
The Tulsa Health Department will prioritize vaccinating teachers and staff in order to meet the goal of ensuring at least the first dose is administered to all eligible staff before the end of March. Community members seeking vaccine appointments are encouraged to contact their health care provider to schedule an appointment through their health care system, or utilize the Oklahoma Vaccine Portal to look for open appointment opportunities.
Comorbidities include but are not limited to hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease, Down syndrome, diabetes mellitus, chronic lung, liver or renal disease, cancers and those who are at high risk of mortality and severe morbidity resulting from a COVID infection. When an individual registers on the Oklahoma Vaccine Portal, there is a question to attest to your health status. No further documentation is required; individuals should accurately designate their health status. When individuals receive their vaccine from their health care provider; their medical records and history will help determine eligibility.
While THD wants to vaccinate as many residents as quickly as possible, the safety of clients and staff remain the top priority. THD officials offer the following guidelines to everyone scheduled to receive the vaccine at the THD Vaccine Clinic:
The vaccine will be administered at the Lower Level River Spirit Expo, 4145 E 21st St, Tulsa, OK 74114.
- Please dress appropriate for the weather.
- Early arrivals are not permitted. Everyone must wait in their vehicle until their scheduled appointment time; no one will be permitted to wait outside.
- Do not attempt to enter the River Spirit Expo until your scheduled appointment time. You will be instructed to return to your vehicle.
- Individuals requiring assistance may be accompanied by one support person.
- THD officials encourage those driving someone to an appointment to drop the client off at the North entrance, park and wait to pick them up.
- Anyone who is unable to make their scheduled appointment should return to the Oklahoma Vaccine Portal to seek a new appointment opportunity. Please cancel your first appointment so it can be utilized by someone else.
More than 8,000 appointments have been rescheduled by the department due to inclement weather February 10-17th. Everyone who has been rescheduled was notified by email. Everyone able to make their new appointment date should not make any changes in the Oklahoma Vaccine Portal. Only those who are not able to make their rescheduled date should seek new appointments in the portal.
- Appointments originally scheduled on February 12th will be made up on February 22nd and February 25th now at the Lower Level River Spirit Expo.
Only those on the roster at 5pm on February 11th will be rescheduled for this make-up date.
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- For individuals who had appointments at the top of the hour (i.e. 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 or 3:00) you have been rescheduled for Monday, February 22nd, at the same time as your originally scheduled appointment.
- For individuals who had appointments at the half hour (i.e. 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 or 2:30) you have been rescheduled for Thursday, February 25th, at the same time as your originally scheduled appointment.
- Appointments originally scheduled on February 15th will be made up on Saturday, February 27th, now at the Lower Level River Spirit Expo.
- Appointments originally scheduled on February 17th will be made up on Wednesday, March 3rd, at the Expo Square Pavilion.
- Only those on the roster at noon on February 16th will be rescheduled for this make-up date.
In order to accommodate these rescheduled appointments, THD has not added any new Tulsa County COVID-19 vaccine appointments to the portal in the last week. We will evaluate our shipment and supplies this week to determine when new THD clinic vaccine opportunities can be added. There are other ways to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment through healthcare systems or pandemic providers. View opportunities: bit.ly/VaxTulsaCo
According to OSDH’s Weekly Epidemiology Report on February 19th, 15.5% of Tulsa County residents ages 16+ population have received a prime dose of vaccine administration, and 50.5% of Tulsa County residents age 65 and over have received at least one dose.
More information regarding vaccine availability in Tulsa County can be found at tulsa-health.org/COVIDvaccine. For information regarding the Oklahoma COVID-19 Vaccine Plan, including the priority population framework for Oklahoma, please visit oklahoma.gov/covid19/vaccine-information.
The Tulsa Health Department continues to offer specimen collection for COVID-19 testing by appointment only. Appointments can be scheduled online. Call 918-582-9355 to speak to a public health professional. For more information, please visit www.tulsa-health.org/COVID19.
