As the latest wave of COVID-19 continues infecting more Central Ohioans, vaccinations are coming into another front, people鈥檚 homes.
OFFOR Health, a Columbus-based company that provides clinical services for medical and dental companies, is partnering with the state of Ohio to bring vaccines to home-bound people who can鈥檛 travel to clinics to get immunized. Their first in-home shots will be distributed Monday.
The company is working with the state of Ohio as part of the , which delivers vaccines to homebound people.
鈥淭here is a fair amount of patients who are homebound patients who for various reason don鈥檛 have the ability to get to a traditional vaccination clinic, (like) a lot of comorbidities and transportation challenges, so we鈥檙e taking the vaccine to them,鈥� said Jamie Wilson, OFFOR鈥檚 director of paramedic.
He said they鈥檝e signed up about 40 people to get shots and they鈥檒l also offer vaccines to family members and caregivers of homebound patients. The company has already been operating vaccination clinics in under-served areas
Wilson said vaccinating people at homes brings more challenges than the highly-controlled environment of a clinic or hospital, including making sure the immediate area is clean and keeping vaccines stored at appropriate temperatures.
In February the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for health care professionals vaccinating people at home.
Wilson said for now their program is limited to people who can鈥檛 leave their home, but he hopes to eventually be vaccinating healthy people in their homes.
鈥淭hat is our goal and absolutely hope that we can get to that point,鈥� Wilson said.
