Partnership on the front line of COVID vaccine campaign

LACONIA — As the process of getting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to first responders is wrapping up, the Partnership for Public Health is planning a clinic for residents of Sunrise Towers in downtown Laconia at the adjacent Sunrise House.

The Partnership is working with officials at the Laconia Housing Authority to collect data on residents who want to be vaccinated, as well as setting a date for the clinic and ordering the vaccine through the state, said John Beland, PPH's emergency preparedness and response coordinator.

Beland said the Partnership is also coordinating with Health First, a federally qualified health center offering primary care services, to help get them set up to offer vaccinations to their patients at offices in Laconia and Franklin. Beland anticipates the group will also be called upon to administer vaccinations to people living in residential care facilities such as group homes for developmentally disabled adults.

In addition to the clinics being organized by the Partnership, those who meet the qualifications to receive the vaccine during the first phase can also get inoculated at so-called fixed sites set up at 13 locations across the state, including Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, the National Guard Armory in Plymouth, and at Steeplegate Mall in Concord. Those sites are being co-managed by DHHS and the National Guard, Beland explained.

Last of the firsts

The last of the first responders who signed up to get the vaccine were scheduled to be inoculated Thursday evening in Gilmanton, Beland said.

With that final clinic, 380 first responders in the Winnipesaukee Public Health Network will have received the first of two shots designed to protect people from the coronavirus, which as of Thursday morning had infected at least 23 million people in the United States and was responsible for at least 384,784 deaths nationwide.

So far the Partnership has been involved in organizing vaccine clinics targeted to specific groups. The next phase for the group will be reaching out to people who might find it difficult to travel any distance to get to a vaccination clinic.

The Partnership relies on a cadre of 240 volunteers to operate the clinics, including between 30 and 40 registered nurses who administer the inoculations, Beland said.

As the vaccination program was setting up, the biggest challenge was ensuring there would be enough vaccine.

“In the beginning the allotments were tightly managed; having a clinic scheduled and not knowing if there will be enough vaccine to meet those needs” was a concern, Beland said. “Now the allotments are getting easier to get.”

He credited the state Department of Health and Human Services for going to great lengths to get the necessary amount of vaccine out to the clinics around the state.

Meanwhile, Beland said first responders will soon be able to get their second dose of the two-stage Moderna vaccine.

For Beland, being in the trenches of the coronavirus pandemic is a twist of fate. He joined the Partnership three years ago after spending 35 years in the fire/EMS service — 28½ years at Gilford Fire Rescue, and 6½ years as deputy coordinator at Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid, which dispatches fire and EMS departments in 31 central New Hampshire communities.

When he joined the Partnership one of his first jobs was to update the emergency response plan.

“I was preparing for a global pandemic that everyone said would never happen,” Beland said.

That preparation turned out to be far more providential than he could have ever imagined.