At about 12:05 PM on Monday, January 4th, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office was informed of a freezer malfunction at Adventist Health Ukiah, and that in order to preserve the vaccines, they needed to be administered by 2:00 PM. NaphCare, the healthcare provider for county jail inmates was contacted, and agreed to administer the vaccines.
NaphCare staff, including three Registered Nurses and a Nurse Practitioner administered vaccines to groups of ten. An additional nurse from Public Health as well as Mendocino County’s Public Health Officer, Dr. Andrew Coren, assisted in administering the vaccines.
Staff utilized the Sheriff’s Office training room as a makeshift injection site. The vaccines were delivered at 12:50 PM. The administration of vaccines was prioritized based upon current tier guidelines from the State and the California Department of Public Health. Vaccinated individuals consisted of Public Safety staff, including Sheriff’s Deputies, Corrections Deputies and Public Safety Dispatchers as well as other essential Sheriff’s Office staff. Additionally, employees from Public Health, and staff from other key county departments were vaccinated.
After each group was vaccinated, they were sent to another room where they were monitored by Ukiah Valley Fire Authority paramedics in the event of any adverse reactions to the vaccine.
In all, 97 injections were provided before the 2:00 PM deadline for vaccine facility was reached. Sheriff Matt Kendall noted that the team from NaphCare and Public Health “went above and beyond to organize and coordinate this effort with such short notice.”
"We had a 'use it or lose it' unanticipated event. Many thanks to Adventist Health for their quick notification, to NaphCare nurses for administering the vaccines and to the Sheriff's Office for providing space and staff support. We hope this never happens again, but we did learn that we can mobilize quickly to serve our community,” notes CEO Carmel Angelo.
(Mendocino County Sheriff's Office)
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