LIHU‘E — Amanda Same came following her shift at Old Mill Ice Cream in Koloa Saturday to get her Veterans Affairs-administered COVID-19 vaccine with her husband Peter Same.
LIHU‘E — Amanda Same came following her shift at Old Mill Ice Cream in Koloa Saturday to get her Veterans Affairs-administered COVID-19 vaccine with her husband Peter Same.
There was no need for the rush, because the Veterans Affairs vaccination team was on hand from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center.
“There was a surge earlier in the morning,” said Dr. Harber Wood, the Kaua‘i VA chief medical officer, during a check on the vaccination progress with a few minutes remaining before the walk-ins, or those who did not make appointments, closed at 1 p.m. “We’ve done more than 120 vaccines of the 500 we had planned for. We wish more veterans and their families would’ve come out, but we just want veterans to know that we’re always here for them whenever they need us.”
The VA team administered the Moderna vaccine following the pause put on the Johnson &Johnson vaccine last week.
Vaccines were available for all veterans, regardless of whether they were registered with the VA. The caregivers and families of veterans were also eligible to receive the vaccines.
Because the Moderna vaccines requires a second dose to be fully effective, the VA is scheduling a vaccination clinic on May 15 for second shots for people who received their first vaccines Saturday.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
