WALKER, Mich. — One thousand veterans will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a Grand Rapids area arena on Saturday.
The walk-in clinic at the DeltaPlex will begin at 9 a.m. and first offer shots to veterans ages 65 or older before expanding to other age groups and to essential workers as the day progresses (or until supply runs out.)
"We wanted to really make it easy and accessible for veterans to get vaccinated," said Brian Pegouske, public affairs officer for Battle Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
"You know, having to schedule can be a barrier and then you get into sort of this phone tag situation, calling back and forth, so we wanted to eliminate that."
The clinic is also logistically simpler due to the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is easier to store and only requires one shot.
Pegouske said he's hopeful they will be able to use up the doses as there are about 3,000 veterans in the Grand Rapids area who have not yet received the vaccine.
The Battle Creek VA and Wyoming VA have been offering the vaccine at their offices over the last few months by appointment.
But, Pegouske said as supply has increased the VA along with its partners at the West Michigan Veterans Coalition, Finish the Mission Veterans Relief Fund and the Kent County Veterans Service Office, decided a large-scale clinic would be a good way to ramp up vaccinations across every age group.
"We want to encourage all veterans to get vaccinated, and we really wanted to make that determination and make all veterans our priority," Pegouske said.
The Deltaplex, which is located at 2500 Turner Ave. NW., was offered to the VA to use for free for the clinic.
The Battle Creek VA has also started bringing vaccines to veterans in rural counties through a mobile clinic.
"The turnout has been really great for that," Pegouske said.
The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will follow this schedule:
- 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. for veterans ages 65+
- 10:00 a.m. - noon for veterans 55+
- Noon - 2:00 p.m. for veterans that are essential workers
- 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. for veterans of all ages
The clinic is for VA members, however, there will be a table to register for VA healthcare if a veteran is not enrolled.
RELATED VIDEO
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.