Northern Light Inland Hospital Vaccination Clinic Expands at Fairfield Site

With more COVID-19 vaccine becoming available, Northern Light Inland Hospital is expanding its vaccination clinic at Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC) in Fairfield. Beginning on Saturday, March 6, Inland Hospital will increase the number of doses it administers to approximately 1000 people on established days; the amount will depend on the vaccine allotment from the state each week. The Hospital started its vaccine clinic on January 26 and has administered about 300 doses each week with a total number of doses reaching 1,520 as of March 4 (1,043 first doses and 477 second doses using the Moderna vaccine). 

Inland Hospital is following Maine CDC guidelines as to who should receive the vaccine. Currently those age 60 and older are eligible to be vaccinated and appointments are required.

“We’ve all been waiting for this day,” said Terri Vieira, president of Inland Hospital. “More vaccine supply means more people can be vaccinated, and now with people 60 and older eligible for the shot, we know we will be busy. We appreciate that our community has been anxious, and we are eager to expand our clinic so we can protect more and more people. KVCC has been instrumental in helping us make this clinic a success; and of course, we can’t do it without the dozens and dozens of dedicated staff and volunteers who are really making it all happen.”

“We remain profoundly grateful for the partnership with Inland Hospital that makes this all possible,” said Richard Hopper, president of KVCC. “I want to personally thank the KVCC Information Technology and Security staff as well as faculty and student volunteers who have joined in this historic effort.”

KVCC nursing faculty and students are joining the effort as volunteers. Marcia Parker, chair of the KVCC Nursing program says, “We are so excited to play a role in Inland’s vaccination clinics!” Parker noted students’ participation is not part of their required clinical hours but added, “It is still a wonderful opportunity to help protect the health of the people in our community and get more real-world nursing experience.”

Rick Barry, RN, vice president of Nursing and Patient Care Services for Inland Hospital and vaccine clinic incident commander, offered a few helpful tips for people coming to the clinic. “Please stay in your car until 5-10 minutes before your scheduled time and remember to bring your Maine identification to validate your appointment. It’s also very helpful for people to wear the appropriate shirt so that staff can easily access the shoulder area for the vaccination.”

To schedule an appointment visit covid.northernlighthealth.org/publicvaccine or call 207.204.8551. Appointments are updated every Monday and Wednesday at 2 pm after we learn how much vaccine we will receive.