(PHOTOS) DeKalb Pediatric Center holds vaccine clinic
Bailey Gilbert, 16, gets his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Medical Assistant Pheona Mack at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
By Dean Hesse, contributor
Decatur, GA — Back in December, DeKalb Pediatric Center applied to be a COVID-19 vaccine provider. They were approved but couldn’t get the vaccine.
“I tried everything I could to get vaccine, but they weren’t giving vaccine to pediatric practices. I was patient,” said Dr. Jane Wilkov.
The DeKalb Pediatric Center is located at 350 Winn Way, Decatur, GA 30030. The vaccine currently is available to everyone age 16 and older.
The center received its first supply of 1,170 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on March 19 and began administering vaccines on March 20.
“You have to be able to commit to using 1,170 doses in a two-week period, which is a lot of doses,” said Dr. Wilkov during a vaccine clinic held at the center on March 25. “We took on that challenge and we didn’t say a word because we had to get good at it and somehow word of mouth spread like wildfire. We didn’t even put it on our website or Facebook. We wanted to just make sure we could do it. We reinvented the wheel about four times since last Saturday. We got the vaccine Friday afternoon and had all the staff come on a Saturday when were normally closed so we could sort of practice without other patients here. We gave about 200 doses that morning literally from word of mouth.”
Dr. Wilkov said she expects the initial 1,170 doses will be used up by Friday, March 26.
Another shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is coming and Dr. Wilkov said DeKalb Pediatric Center will be hosting a Community Day on March 31, 2021.
“We decided to open it up to the community. Our 16-year-old patients are coming big time,” Wilkov said. “The word got out on their social network and of course we had a lot of calls from the community. Our motivation for doing this was to do something we thought could help our patients and the community at large. We really believe in the vaccine and wanted to do our share in this pandemic and do what we can as pediatricians. It has been a hard long year, so it’s a real feel good to us and to our patients that we can do something that is positive. From 8:30 in the morning till probably 6;30 at night we are going to try to vaccinate as many people as we can including a block of time for Decatur High School.”
Dr. Wilkov said people should visit https://dekalbpeds.com for vaccine information.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Hannah Addis holds a vial of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Each vial contains 6 doses. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Lesley Cogburn draws up a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Decatur High School student Sean Wiseman, 18, sits out his 15 -minute post injection observation period with his mother Christine Wiseman after receiving his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, March 25, 2021 at DeKalb Pediatric Center. Sean said the injection felt like “just a pinch” and he’s looking forward to spring break. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Camila Salvador of Atlanta holds her CDC vaccination record card after receiving her first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, March 25, 2021 at DeKalb Pediatric Center. She said she was very relieved to get the vaccine and had actually anticipated waiting until June but heard through word of mouth about the center’s vaccine clinic. “It was so fast,” she said. “My appointment was at 4 p.m. and I got in this chair (for post injection 15-minute observation period) at 4:01 p.m.” Photo by Dean Hesse.
Jacob Links, 17, gets his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Medical Assistant Malisha Warbington at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Drake Prater, 9, holds his mother Christy Prater’s hand before she receives her first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
A syringe with a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sits in a tray ready for use during the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Registered Medical Assistant Melissa Dalton gives follow-up instructions to Harriet Skowronek after her first dose during the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Dr. Jane Wilkov, on right, holds a basket of syringes filled with doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine while Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Hannah Addis calls in people for their appointments. Photo by Dean Hesse
Medical Assistant Denrita Leonard injects Malik Hardwick with his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Registered Medical Assistant Melissa Dalton has bandages at the ready as she waits for her next appointments during the March 25, 2021 vaccine clinic at DeKalb Pediatric Center. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Hannah Addis draws up a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at DeKalb Pediatric Center on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Photo by Dean Hesse.
DeKalb Pediatric Center’s Dr. Jane Wilkov said 106 people had appointments between 4 and 5:30 p.m. for the March 25 vaccine clinic. Photo by Dean Hesse.
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