Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Pennington Biomedical Research Center as Baton Rouge’s first mass vaccination site for the coronavirus vaccine on Feb. 9.

Laura Davis, the assistant vice president of community care clinics with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, said the vaccine rollout has been operating seamlessly. 

“It’s been going great,” Davis said. “We have a good bit of vaccine to offer. Lots of patients have been willing to bare their arms.”

The mass vaccination site is being ran by Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOL), according to Grace Weber, public relations strategist with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System.

Edwards received his first shot of the vaccine on Feb. 9 at Pennington.

“These vaccines are how we’ll get past this pandemic and I encourage everyone to go sleeves up when they’re eligible to receive theirs,” Edwards said.

Although a lot of Louisiana residents still have not been inoculated, Pennington’s mass vaccination site is administering shots to as many people as it can.

“On a typical weekend, roughly 1,000 people get vaccinated and on any given weekday, roughly 700 people get vaccinated at PBRC,” Davis said.

Although the vaccine rollout has seen limited difficulties, one problem that presented itself at the beginning was receiving enough vaccinations to administer, according to Davis.

Now, she said the site has been receiving an adequate amount of doses and is able to keep up with the increasing demand, especially as Louisiana’s coronavirus vaccine eligibility expands.

Edwards announced a dramatic expansion of the eligibility requirements for the vaccine which includes individuals age 16 and older with underlying health conditions on March 9.

Anyone in the age range who is considered overweight or is a current or past smoker is eligible to receive a vaccine across the state.

“We do have a lot of smokers being vaccinated,” Davis said. “Whether they are a smoker or not is between them and God. If they claim that they’re a smoker, then they will get vaccinated.”

Davis said that once the eligibility expanded, there was an expectation that an influx of residents would seek to receive the vaccine. Although a lot more people were aiming to get vaccinated, she said they were prepared to meet the demand.

“We were expecting it,” she said. “We were super thankful for it. We anticipated opening the criteria.”

The vaccine is available for other Louisiana residents as well who work in specific jobs that put them at a greater risk of contracting the virus. Edwards announced that those who work in congregant settings, like prisons, shelters or group homes are now eligible to get vaccinated. 

“We are literally in a race against transmission of the virus — especially the new variants,” Edwards said.

While OLOL is administering the majority of vaccines across Baton Rouge, Davis said that there are also pop-up clinics appearing across the area.

On March 14 there was a line to get into Tiger Stadium, but it wasn’t for revelers eager to watch a football game. There was a pop-up clinic held at the stadium that administered around 800 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations. 

In the coming weeks, LSU plans to host clinics around campus for students to receive their vaccines. A specific date for those clinics has yet to be announced. The University is urging students to complete a vaccine pre-registration form which can be accessed through LSU’s Roadmap to Spring website.

“LSU identifies people in the community who meet the tiers set by Louisiana, then uses the pre-registration information to identify those who have indicated they want the vaccine through LSU,” the website read. “Identified LSU community members receive notice of an available vaccine dose via email, which includes instructions on how to schedule a vaccination appointment.”

The University has not made an announcement yet regarding whether students will be required to get vaccinated in order to attend classes in the fall.