View Larger Image Yolanda Emery, a medical assistant, receives the first COVID-19 vaccine at UAMS in December. Beginning Jan. 19, UAMS will offer the vaccine to Arkansans aged 70 and older as well as teachers and other education workers, including K-12, child care and higher education.
Yolanda Emery, a medical assistant, receives the first COVID-19 vaccine at UAMS in December. Beginning Jan. 19, UAMS will offer the vaccine to Arkansans aged 70 and older as well as teachers and other education workers, including K-12, child care and higher education.

UAMS To Open COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic

By Kate Franks

| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to Arkansans aged 70 and older as well as teachers and other education workers, including K-12, child care and higher education, on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Vaccines will be administered in a UAMS clinic on the seventh floor of the Freeway Medical Tower at 5800 W. 10th St. in Little Rock. Appointments are required.

The COVID Vaccine Clinic will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Friday, Jan. 15, appointments can be made between 1-5:30 p.m. by calling (501) 686-8960. Beginning Jan. 19, appointments can be made by calling that same number from between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays. You do not have to be a UAMS patient to receive a vaccine at this clinic, which will have the capacity to administer more than 300 vaccines a day.

A photo ID with your date of birth is required to show that you are aged 70 or older and eligible for a vaccine. School ID badges are required for those under 70.

“We have been eagerly anticipating this day for many months and are thrilled to join hospitals, community pharmacies and other health care facilities across the state to begin protecting Arkansans from the COVID-19 virus,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “True to our mission to improve the health and health care of Arkansans, we are committed to offering our resources and talents to support the Arkansas Department of Health in vaccinating as many Arkansans as possible as quickly as possible.”

After receiving its first shipment of the vaccine on Dec. 14, UAMS has administered about 10,000 doses to UAMS employees.

“Our front-line employees began receiving the first doses within hours of the vaccine hitting our loading dock, and we have continued to aggressively vaccinate staff over the past several weeks as we received allocations of the vaccine,” Patterson continued.

“I’m pleased that nearly 6,000 employees have received their first dose and of those, about 4,000 have already received the second and final dose of the Pfizer vaccine, providing them with 95% immunity from the virus,” he said. “This will help ensure our care teams are healthy and available to care for the patients who need our advanced skills and expertise.”

Through careful and strategic planning, the UAMS pharmacy, operational and patient care teams developed an efficient process for administering and documenting vaccines. As supplies of vaccines increase, UAMS plans to continue its partnership with the Health Department to expand its services as needed to ensure the most vulnerable people across the state have access to the vaccine.

To ensure patients get both required doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is necessary for maximum protection, a second appointment will be scheduled for each patient when they receive their first dose.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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