Sweetwater Sound began to offer the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine to their employees last Monday, April 12, 2021, at their facility along US 30. The Sweetwater COVID-19 vaccination program is available to their employees only – their clinic is not open to the public.
The program is voluntary for employees and offers an opportunity to receive the vaccination without leaving the facility for an outside appointment. The program collaborates with the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and is being offered to businesses with 1,000+ employees. Dr. Todd Page, the Sweetwater Sound Medical Clinic doctor, is in charge of the program and works with Nurse Beth and other employees who check in those coming in for their vaccination. Sweetwater owner Chuck Surack supports the project and asked Dr. Page to apply for the program. Dr. Page applied three weeks ago after Sweetwater had received the letter from the ISDH. Sweetwater is providing vaccinations to all employees in all their various divisions.
Sweetwater is using the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which requires two shots one month apart. They had to purchase a freezer for the program, and their tech department came up with a way to monitor its temperature remotely. The freezer has to be checked every hour to make sure it is at the correct temperature. The Moderna vaccine must be stored at -13 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Once thawed, each vial contains enough vaccine for 10 vaccinations. Thus far, Dr. Page reports they have not had any waste of vaccine.
During our visit, we also spoke with Ian Roegels, who is a Senior Sales Engineer. He mentioned that he would have had to wait another month to receive the vaccine if Sweetwater was not offering it to their employees. And convenience? “I was able to get up from my desk, come down and take care of it,” he said.
Dr. Page said he is grateful for the Sweetwater employee’s patience as the COVID-19 pandemic has presented them with challenges. He and Nurse Beth have been working with employees from the beginning of the pandemic which have been exposed to or developed the virus. In addition to the challenges posed, Sweetwater’s business has been “super brisk” during the pandemic because many people are home and have a lot of time on their hands. Besides, “Who doesn’t want to work on learning to play the guitar or keyboard?” he asked.
COVID-19 World Wide Web Resources
Allen County Department of Health COVID-19 Guidance and Local Resources
State of Indiana Web Resources:
- Indiana’s Mortgage Assistance Program
- List of who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine
- Eligible? Click here to register and make an appointment
- Indiana State Department of Health’s COVID-19 information and stats
- Indiana Executive Orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020 | 2021
Other Web Resources:
- Recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines should sign up for V-safe, the after-vaccination health checker
- Free rides for COVID-19 vaccinations in NE Indiana
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 webpage
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 cases in the United States
- John Hopkins’ COVID-19 Dashboard
- Latest news from Google News
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