Staff photo / Allie Vugrincic.... Nurses and support staff from Mahoning County Public Health administer first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday morning to the first handful of people registered at the mass vaccination clinic at the former Dillards department store at the Southern Park Mall

By DAVID SKOLNICK

Staff writer

BOARDMAN — The Polo Ralph Lauren and Gucci signs still shine bright, but the former Dillard’s department store at the Southern Park Mall has a new purpose: it’s the Mahoning Valley’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site.

The location opened Wednesday providing about 820 Moderna vaccinations that day.

Jason Simpson of Sebring, who was first in line, said, “The process was very smooth. I think everyone should be getting vaccinated. This was very efficient. I came in, and they were ready, shot and done.”

Simpson’s appointment was at 8:30 a.m. Two minutes later, he was sitting in another section of the former department store waiting 15 minutes to make sure he didn’t have a reaction before leaving.

“I was eager to get the shot,” Simpson said. “I’m a caregiver to my grandmother. She already got her shot. I wanted to make sure I got mine. I don’t want to get COVID. I want to get my life back to normal.”

Linda Mervin, a registered nurse with Mahoning County Public Health, was giving inoculations Wednesday at the new location after working at the Austintown Senior Center for the past few months.

“This is a wider space than Austintown, and it’s going to be much more organized,” she said. “We were organized (in Austintown), but this is going to give us the opportunity to mass vaccinate people, and it will be easier for us to get it done with the wider space.”

Mervin said giving vaccinations “is very exhausting,” but it’s important to make the patients feel at ease.

“This (vaccination) is extremely important for the people coming in,” she said. “We try to relieve their anxiety. We try to add a little bit of fun to it, try to get them to laugh a little and get that little bit of anxiety off before they get the shot.”

CLINIC INFORMATION

Ryan Tekac, Mahoning County Public Health commissioner, said, “A lot of preparation went into this. We’ve been planning for over two-and-a half weeks now. We’re very pleased to be out here. The facility is in great shape. It’s a large facility. We have it organized so we have great traffic flow. Once you come through the door, you get vaccinated, wait 15 minutes and you’re done. From the time you come in, you should be done within a half-hour.”

The mass clinic will switch next week from the two-dose Moderna vaccine to the one-dose shot from Johnson and Johnson, Tekac said.

While the state is making anyone at least 16 years of age eligible to receive the vaccine starting Monday, those coming to the Southern Park Mall clinic have to be at least 18, Tekac said. That’s because only the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for 16 years and up, while you have to be at least 18 to be eligible for the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

The plan now is to get 2,500 doses next week of Johnson and Johnson, with 500 going to the Youngstown health district and 750 to the Columbiana County health district, Tekac said.

That will leave 1,250 vaccines for a clinic at the mall next Thursday.

There will be a clinic at the mall on April 10 with another 1,250 doses, he said.

Gov. Mike DeWine is expected today to announce the dates of all state-sponsored COVID-19 vaccine sites, Tekac said.

But Tekac said he expects the local site to be open on Fridays and Saturdays, starting April 16, and be open through the end of May.

“We’ll reevaluate every week with the Ohio Department of Health whether we increase our doses or decrease them,” he said. “It depends on demand.”

The clinic is expected to open at 9 a.m. on days it provides vaccinations, he said.

Those wanting to sign up to get vaccinated at the mass clinic need to preregister online at mahoninghealth.org.

The one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be beneficial, Tekac said.

“For those who work and have to take time off, they’ll only have to miss one day,” he said. “But we’re also offering vaccination clinics on Saturdays so that also makes it more convenient for people.”

STATE SITES

DeWine announced March 10 that the state had chosen the mall location as Mahoning Valley’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site.

There are 11 state-sponsored permanent vaccine sites, including the Southern Park Mall, as well as four mobile sites, two popup locations and the state / federal site in Cleveland to provide mass inoculations against COVID-19.

Anyone eligible can register at any of the sites throughout the state.

“When we were looking for a site, knowing that it serves the entire region, we chose this location because everyone knows where the Southern Park Mall is,” Tekac said. “The site is on the bus line.”

The Western Reserve Transit Authority is providing free transportation to the vaccination location.

The Dillard’s location has been vacant since May 2019 when the store closed. The location still looks like a department store though the racks and shelves are removed. Several of the makeup and perfume counters are still there.

Boardman SC LLC, a Cafaro Co. subsidiary, purchased the 180,000-square-foot property for $8.92 million in February 2019 when Dillard’s announced the closure. It’s been empty ever since.

“We’re very thankful the Cafaro family donated this building to us rent-free,” Tekac said. “We’re pleased we can come into a large facility.”

The county public health department has used the Austintown Senior Center as its vaccination site since mid-December.

The last first-dose vaccines at the Austintown location were given last Friday, Tekac said.

Those who got their first-dose vaccine in Austintown will return there to get the second dose, he said. The last shots given at that location will be on April 16.

“We’re only doing second doses at Austintown,” Tekac said. “We weren’t going to move everyone out (to Boardman) for the second dose.”

dskolnick@tribtoday.com