By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Efforts to vaccinate individuals in underserved areas of Sussex County or those without transportation are going mobile and being booked.

Literally.

The Sussex County Mobile Library is being drafted as a medical unit, while efforts to defeat COVID-19 intensify across Delaware and throughout the United States.

Through a partnership encompassing two county agencies — Emergency Medical Services and the Department of Libraries — as well as Beebe Healthcare, the bookmobile will be deployed to hard-to-reach and underserved communities throughout the county by early April with its mission to vaccinate more Delawareans.

It’s the latest strategy in the ongoing attempt to end the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the globe for more than a year.

“We certainly recognize that getting the vaccine is an important part of our path to returning to normal. And getting it into the arms of our citizens creates a safer community,” said Sussex County EMS Director Robbie Murray Jr. “The challenge that some of our communities have is they don’t have access. They lack the means, possibly.”

At its Tuesday meeting, County Council approved a memorandum of understanding between Sussex County — specifically EMS and the Department of Libraries — and Beebe Healthcare to facilitate the first-of-its-kind venture, enlisting the dormant bookmobile as a mobile venue for vaccine distribution.

“This is an incredible, innovative approach that will make a real difference in the community and in the lives of so many of our people,” said County Council President Michael H. Vincent. “This is a great thing to help our population in this county that is underserved.”

Under the plan, the mobile library, parked since the pandemic began in early 2020, will serve as a medical unit, setting up in targeted areas of the county at least once a week to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.

Library staff will be responsible for transporting and setting up the unit, a converted 2000 Thomas Built Bus usually stocked with books, DVDs and other media. County paramedics will be on hand to assist Beebe staff in administering the COVID-19 shots, as well as monitor patients for any adverse reactions.

In addition to providing and administering the shots, Beebe Healthcare will identify communities, as well as handle all patient scheduling, in advance. Among Beebe Population Health community partners is First State Community Action Agency.

“We have a number of our partners who have expressed need for individuals who are homebound,” said Kim Blanch, community services manager at Beebe Population Health in her presentation before County Council. “A number of conversations have taken place with our community partners. We have identified those most vulnerable populations that need a low-barrier, low-tech way to access opportunities for vaccination.”

Shots will be provided to recipients with no out-of-pocket costs.

“Vaccinations play a key role in protecting our residents, and this partnership will assist in ensuring that those who desire to be vaccinated will have that opportunity,” Mr. Murray said. “This is a great example of ‘thinking out of the box’ and an opportunity to partner with the library staff and Beebe to provide vaccinations to the residents who need it.”

Mr. Murray said the unit will be deployed “as needed” to areas identified by Beebe Healthcare as either underserved or where residents may have difficulty in accessing other vaccination events. These locales would include, for example, housing developments and mobile home communities where there may be a higher concentration of seniors or those without sufficient transportation or where a central community center might not be present.

“Beebe Healthcare’s Population Health team is proud to partner with Sussex County EMS and others to bring a mobile vaccine clinic to communities in Sussex County,” said Dr. Bill Chasanov, Beebe’s COVID-19-response medical director. “This collaboration provides access to safe, effective and lifesaving vaccines to communities who may not be able to receive it through traditional approaches, accomplishing the goal of an equitable distribution.”

When serving its traditional mission, the mobile library travels throughout the county, making stops at senior centers, day care facilities and other sites where a community library is not present or where a large group of individuals can be served.

For its special detachment, the unit will be missing most of its usual content and will not be checking out items to the public. But library staff plan to be on hand with promotional information about services and programs at the county’s brick-and-mortar libraries, which are now open, and to distribute giveaways to those who come out for vaccines.

“In a way, this continues the mobile library’s mission, which is to provide services to those with limited or no access. So this partnership with SCEMS and Beebe to reach those same communities to provide COVID vaccinations makes perfect sense,” Sussex County Librarian Kathy Graybeal said. “That’s tremendous service on every level, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

Some areas identified for the visits include Frankford, Selbyville, Dagsboro, Ocean View, Ellendale and Lincoln, Ms. Blanch said.

For more information, contact outreach@beebehealthcare.org.