DOVER — Staff and some clientele of Dover’s Modern Maturity Center and Georgetown’s CHEER Inc. were among the first in Delaware to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Division of Public Health’s initial vaccination wave.

The Modern Maturity Center was contacted by the DPH on Thursday, two days before the start of a three-day drive-thru vaccination clinic at the Division of Motor Vehicles in Dover.

Carolyn Fredricks, president and CEO of the MMC, said the DPH asked for all essential workers of the facility and volunteers from its Meals on Wheels program to attend the clinic.

Then, on Friday, Ms. Fredricks received a call from DPH about its pilot program for vaccinations to individuals 65 and older. She was asked to send over 100 individuals each day of the event, between the hours of 2-4 p.m.

Ms. Fredricks said she pulled in most of her staff to make phone calls to find 300 people, but she quickly realized word was spreading rapidly as each person contacted told their friends about the event.

“It doesn’t take long for good news to travel,” she said.

More than 300 individuals from the MMC ended up being vaccinated over the three-day event, and Ms. Fredricks said there is still a long waitlist for those interested who were not one of the first group.

Ken Bock, CEO of CHEER Inc. in Sussex County, said there was 100 slots at the clinic available for his organization’s health care staff or clients over age 65.

“We are trying to encourage our people, as many as possible, to get vaccinated,” Mr. Bock said Monday.

Mr. Bock himself rolled up his sleeve from his vehicle Sunday, receiving the vaccine.

“It is open to us for any of our staff right now,” he said. “The state has offered us slots, … and we sent people from staff this weekend and also persons age 65 and above who are members of CHEER. We have health care workers, so they are in that group 1A.”

Both Modern Maturity Center and CHEER did not provide transportation for those attending clinics in Dover.

“We can’t provide transport to Dover or anything because, even when we were open to transport, we were limited to only three people on a bus,” said Mr. Bock.

Delaware is currently in Phase 1B of its vaccination-allocation program, allowing anyone over age 65 and front-line essential workers to register for vaccination starting today. Vaccines will be given out to these individuals starting Friday.

While CHEER is attending clinics and encouraging staff and some clients to get the vaccine, at this point, CHEER facilities are not being used to aid in distribution efforts.

“We are not participating in the distribution part of it,” Mr. Bock said.

He was impressed by how smoothly the vaccination process flowed at Sunday’s Dover clinic, which required advance reservation.

“They did an outstanding job the way they had the whole thing organized,” Mr. Bock said. “You go through the cycle. There is like stages as you move through the parking lot. And you never get out of your car. That is the model they have been using. They’ve done it in Georgetown; they’ve done it in Dover, and they’ve done it in New Castle (County). That is the model they are using. They are using the DMVs, and it seems to be working very well.”

Ms. Fredricks echoed how well-run the vaccination event was.

“It was the best organized event handling a massive amount of people that I’ve seen,” she said. “The nurses handling the vaccinations, they were wonderful, and it was well-planned.”

For information on upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinics, visit coronavirus.delaware.gov. Questions about the vaccine can be directed to the Vaccine Call Center at (833) 643-1715 or emailed to vaccine@delaware.gov.

Staff writer Glenn Rolfe can be reached at grolfe@newszap.com.
Staff writer Tim Mastro can be reached at 741-8224 or tmastro@newszap.com.