In mid-December, The Dominion Post reported the Monongalia County Health Department was awarded a $1 million Health Resources & Services Administration grant, which it will then be in charge of distributing across Monongalia, Marion, Preston, Harrison, Taylor and possibly Barbour counties.
The grant is specifically for increasing vaccine outreach in the above counties, and some funds have already been dedicated to providing a vehicle for each participating county. (As we reported, the vehicles were actually purchased in November.)
Which got us to thinking …
What if those vehicles were turned into vaccine-mobiles? Or an additional, more appropriate vehicle was purchased and shared amongst the counties for the specific purpose of bringing vaccines to hard-to-reach communities, or even to people’s homes?
We can envision something akin to Bonnie’s Bus: An RV-sized vehicle or trailer set up as a full service clinic. More realistically, though, we can see a vaccine-mobile that more closely resembles an industrial van or the famous Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.
A vaccine-mobile of either size would need to be outfitted with coolers to store vaccines, as well as plenty of storage for necessary medical equipment. (Fortunately, syringes and gloves don’t take up tons of space.) Large or small, the vaccine-mobile could set up shop in outlying communities or pay visits to locations where personal vehicles are few and public transportation is scarce. It could be a one-stop-shop approach: Imagine the vaccine-mobile in the Dollar General parking lot (because if a community has nothing else, it’s almost sure to have a Dollar General) or somewhere nearby. Come to cross items off your to-do list and leave with a COVID-19 vaccine or booster.
A bus or large trailer could be outfitted to serve as a traveling clinic. Fill it with everything a doctor would need to conduct a yearly physical and — voila! — you have invested in a possible solution for health care deserts.
A standard work-size van, though, while not capable of being a home-base for multiple services, has the advantage of being more mobile. Pack it with a pop-up canopy and some folding chairs, and it can still host vaccine clinics just about anywhere. But it will also be able to reach individual residences if needed. A van can make a house call to a home-bound elderly person or transport vaccines to long-term care or assisted living facilities.
A vaccine-mobile used for COVID-19 now (whether bus or van) can still be operated post-pandemic. It can be used to set up vaccine clinics before school begins each year, so students in outlying areas can get their required shots without needing to be driven all the way to Morgantown, Fairmont or Clarksburg. The vaccine-mobile can also be used to give out annual flu shots, which people are more likely to get if it’s more convenient.
We’re sure MCHD will distribute the grant funds wisely, but we do believe a vaccine-mobile would be a good long-term investment.
