Montage Health launches public vaccination clinics this week
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONTEREY, Calif. — Montage Health is launching two COVID-19 vaccination clinic locations for the public. The clinics, one located at Community Hospital in Monterey and the other at Montage Wellness Center in Marina, have the capacity to vaccinate up to 7,500 community members each week. Vaccination appointments will be dependent on the supply received from Monterey County Health Department each week. The first clinics — for those 75 and older and for healthcare workers in Phase 1a (tiers 1, 2, and 3) — will be held at Community Hospital on February 4 and 5 by appointment only, with additional clinics being added at both locations in the coming weeks. Interested residents of Monterey County can make an appointment at www.chomp.org/vaccine starting Monday, February 1 at noon. The appointments will be first come, first served.
Eligible Monterey County residents can make an appointment for the vaccine clinics directly with Community Hospital at www.chomp.org/CovidVaccine and will be asked for proof of age or healthcare employment upon arrival at the vaccination sites; those unable to provide it will be turned away. Community Hospital expects that the clinics will fill up quickly due to high demand and low vaccine supply, and encourages people to check back often as additional clinic days are scheduled. Also, those who receive a first dose must receive a second dose, so eventually half the clinics will be dedicated to those receiving their second dose.
“We have been working on setting up these vaccine clinics for months,” says Cynthia Peck, vice president, Community Hospital and Montage Health, who is leading the operations of the vaccination clinics. “As vaccine is available, we are enormously pleased to provide this vital service to our residents and to help our community return to a healthy normal.”
Dr. Martha Blum, medical director of infection prevention at Community Hospital, stresses the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. “Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the best thing you can do to fight this pandemic,” says Blum. “Until we can get a majority of our community vaccinated, we encourage everyone to continue safe practices such as wearing your mask when outside your household, social distancing, washing your hands often, and avoiding large gatherings, including any Super Bowl parties.”
The frequency of the vaccine clinics is subject to vaccine availability. Currently, vaccine supply commitments from the state to the county and the county to providers are only made once a week, so Community Hospital will not be able to schedule clinics very far in advance. “Our hope is that we can get a consistent supply of vaccine to reliably and predictably run both our clinic locations full-time for the community,” says Peck.
The populations served at the clinics will be determined by the Monterey County Health Department’s eligible phase(s) and tier(s), whether they focus on age groups, essential worker categories, or other criteria.
The public is encouraged to check back often as new clinics get added as vaccine becomes available. For more information on the vaccine clinics, questions and answers about the vaccine, and more, visit www.chomp.org/vaccine.
ABOUT MONTAGE HEALTH
Montage Health is the nonprofit parent company of a family of organizations dedicated to improving lives by delivering exceptional care and inspiring the pursuit of optimal health. Through its subsidiaries and its partnerships with doctors and other clinicians, healthcare and community organizations, and, most importantly community members, Montage Health is dedicated to care that is coordinated across all care settings to meet each person’s goals and needs. Montage Health’s family of companies includes Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Montage Medical Group, Montage Health Foundation, Montage Wellness Center, and Aspire Health.
