Since January 11, Sandia medical staff has worked tirelessly to vaccinate the Labs’ workforce against COVID-19 and ensure no vaccine goes to waste.
Starting with medical personnel, first responders and other emergency management staff, they began vaccinating essential workers at Sandia’s on-site Medical Clinic before moving to a drive-through clinic at Innovation Parkway Office Center.
As supply increased, Sandia Medical invited eligible members of the workforce to schedule appointments based on the criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments.
To ensure all circumstances were considered, Sandia developed its own vaccine registration tool that ensured the Labs could determine vaccine priority based on the unique conditions reported by Albuquerque- and Livermore-based employees. By capturing such information as age, chronic medical conditions, caregiver status and other vaccine eligibility criteria, the registration tool helped Sandia Medical further segment on-site essential workers and update its lists to keep up with state phasing requirements.
Now, due to nationwide expanded eligibility, Employee Health Services has moved to open scheduling to make the Pfizer vaccine available to all employees and subcontractors who haven’t yet received a vaccine either on-site or through a community provider. First-dose appointments are scheduled through April 29 and second doses will be administered on-site May 12-21. Staff wanting to sign up can use the scheduling eForm.
Sandia’s California site has worked closely with Lawrence Livermore National Lab to vaccinate the workforce and began administering vaccine on March 25 after receiving a supply directly from DOE/NNSA. The initial round of vaccines was made available to DOE national lab employees and subcontractors who perform on-site, mission-essential work and are potentially at higher risk because of close contact with other employees, business travel or other risk factors related to mission requirements.
As of April 22, Sandia Medical has fully vaccinated more than 2,500 people, and more than 3,400 people have been fully vaccinated through a community provider. In total, 40% of the workforce, excluding offsite contractors, has been fully vaccinated so far.
