Sparrow in need of volunteers to help get vaccines distributed

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - There are plenty of vaccine doses in mid-Michigan right now. The Sparrow Frandor site says anybody who walks in can get a shot, but the supply of something else is shrinking.

There are more than 50 volunteers working at the Sparrow Frandor clinic every day, but volunteer turnout has dropped off. Sparrow Frandor lab manager Elizabeth Reust says things have really picked up lately-- they have more doses available than appointments being made. But the volunteer shortage is a looming issue.

“We can’t run this clinic without volunteers,” Reust said. “Obviously our hospital is full right now and our clinical staff is in the hospital care of patients who are sick. We can’t put any more resources here so if we didn’t have volunteers we wouldn’t be able to run this clinic.”

People don’t have to be licensed pros to help out, but there’s a desperate need for people with experience giving shots. Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail told News 10 that there’s a lot of work to get done before the virus is beaten.

“People are thinking we’re almost done, but we’re not,” Vail said. “We’ve got a big-- I would say two-to-three week-- push that we need to get through here. And so we need our volunteers to hang with us through this two or three week push.”

Sparrow volunteers are saying that it’s been rewarding to help during this time.

Volunteer Vada Murphy said, “I’ve been deprived of so much human interaction over the past year, it’s really nice to be able to see people and help them while doing it.”

But more help is needed once again.

“We’re just going to have to amp up our volunteer pool again,” Vail said.

Vail says the Ingham County Health Department has seen a slight drop off in volunteers as well. While it’s not really hard to get an appointment now, the department is still offering a vaccine spot to anyone who volunteers at a clinic.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering can sign up at THIS LINK.

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