Ochsner St. Mary ramps up vaccinations

Ochsner St. Mary now is offering walk-in appointments and may host a mass vaccination event later this month.
St. Mary Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 Chairman Dr. William Cefalu Jr. delivered the news to board members during Wednesday’s monthly meeting.
It’s all part of a vaccination effort to ramp up demand to meet the hospital’s vaccine supply as well as be more efficient in vaccine distribution.
“The biggest thing now is just raising some awareness now about safety of the vaccine and then clearing up some of the confusion,” Cefalu said. “There’s so many different places to get the vaccine, it can get kind of overwhelming in where you go, which vaccine do you get, etc.”
Walk-in appointments are available in Suite 500 of the medical office building, located behind the hospital at 1125 Marguerite St.
For the rest of this week, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be available Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is available to those ages 16 and older.
The requirement of being a current or past Ochsner patient has been lifted, too.
While the My Ochsner App is available to schedule appointments, Cefalu said with an older community that isn’t tech savvy, a number to call for appointments, 844-882-2772, has been used instead.
Because of delays in helping patients via phone, the hospital decided the most efficient way to help that sector of the public get the vaccine was through walk-ins, Cefalu said.
“If there’s a vaccine available, they’ll give it to you,” Cefalu said. “If not, they’ll take your information down, and you’ll be one of the first on the list to get it the next round.”
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 14.53% of St. Mary Parish’s population has been vaccinated. In all, 11,133 vaccine series have begun, while 7,515 have been completed.
The hospital is considering hosting a mass vaccine gathering on April 23 at the medical office building where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be administered. The times being considered are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“They’re kind of using that to stick their toe in the water and get an idea for the public demand,” Cefalu said.
If there is more demand, Cefalu said the hospital would like to explore other options in the community to distribute the vaccine.
Commissioner Heath Hoffpauir suggested improving the public’s confidence in the vaccine by marketing it with community leaders touting they received the vaccine and they are fine. He also suggested putting a video on social media about the vaccine and the hospital service district spending money on advertising to help in the effort.
Cefalu said there also is an option for the hospital to go to larger businesses and administer the vaccine on site.
“If we could get enough businesses interested in that, then we could certainly help with the resources to help them do that,” Cefalu said.
He stressed the importance of getting the vaccine versus taking the risk of getting COVID.
“From a medical standpoint, it’s as close to a slam dunk as you can get as far as risk-benefit, and I can only say that so many times and show you so many diplomas,” he said. “At some point you got to believe it and do it.”
Cefalu said while doctors can predict COVID’s impacts to a point based on a person’s comorbidities, that’s not always accurate as he said he has had marathon runners wind up on a ventilator.
“So it’s a very, very dangerous virus,” he said.
The problems that linger from the virus can last long after the virus leaves the body.
“We’re seeing a horrible lung disease that’s just prolonged turning people into basically asthmatics,” he said.