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COVID vaccines, testing back at park this weekend
Having already made one visit to Robe-Ann Park in recent weeks, a free COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinic will be back on Friday and Saturday.
The clinic, provided by the Indiana State Department of Health and Indiana National Guard in conjunction with the Putnam County Health Department, will run from noon-8 p.m. each day. No appointment is required.
Rapid testing as well as PCR testing is available as well as a choice of the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Those interested are encouraged to use the main park entrance at 405 Bloomington St.
Last week’s three-day clinic resulted in 999 procedures being given with approximately 810 vehicles and five walk-ins taking part at the city park, Greencastle Park Board members were told Wednesday night.
Health officials administered 826 rapid tests with 132 persons -- or 16.38 percent -- testing positive. Meanwhile, 63 people took the PCR test with results three days out.
In addition, 122 people were vaccinated, 84 with the Pfizer vaccine and 38 with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There was some overlap in residents receiving testing and being vaccinated.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose, while the Pfizer vaccine requires a second dose after 21 days.
Both vaccines have been tested and shown to be highly effective at preventing serious illness from COVID-19.
Of the two, the Pfizer vaccine is the only one available to minors ages 12 to 17. It is also the only vaccine of the three currently available in the United States to have garnered the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.
No vaccine is currently available for kids under 12.
A Putnam County Health Department official said at this point, booster shots for vaccines are only available to a limited number of high-risk patients — those undergoing cancer treatment, HIV treatment, who have received an organ or stem cell transplant, those taking medications to suppress their immune system or those with moderate or severe primary immune deficiency.
After a spike in cases in August put Putnam County into the red, or highest, COVID-19 advisory level for one week, the county has spent the last two weeks at a 2.5 score on the 3-point scale, putting the county in orange, the second highest level, like much of the rest of the state.
For the week of Aug. 24-30, Putnam County had a weekly case rate of 899 per 100,000 residents, far exceeding the 200 or more threshold for the highest advisory level.
On the other hand, the seven-day positivity rate was 14.75 percent, just below the 15-percent threshold for the highest rate.
With two COVID-19 deaths on Aug. 25 and another on Aug. 28, the county has recorded four deaths due to the virus since Aug. 15, after only losing one resident between late February and mid-August.
The county has seen a spike in cases since the return of students to local schools in early August. Increasing positivity rates and quarantines among students led first Greencastle and then North Putnam to reinstate mask mandates. Additionally, North Putnam has closed all school buildings until after Labor Day.
Masks remain optional at Cloverdale and South Putnam schools.