St. Luke’s Continues COVID-19 Vaccinations Amid Limited Amount of Doses, Scheduling Issues

DULUTH, Minn.– As COVID-19 vaccinations continue in our area, St. Luke’s has been giving out around 300 of them a day with the capacity to do more. But it has come with challenges, including making sure that there is enough doses to go around.

St. Luke’s has been working to line up vaccine appointments for those who are able to receive the shot. But like many other healthcare systems around the state, they are facing some challenges along the way.

The hospital continues its vaccine rollout to those 65 and older. But has faced two big hurdles as they try to vaccinate members of the general public.

“The demand really does far outstretch the supply,” said Dr. Nick Van Deelen, Interim Co-President, CEO, and CMO at St. Luke’s.

St. Luke’s management stresses that the hospital is working with a limited supply of doses that are allocated to the hospital from the state health department.

975 doses were given the healthcare center this week. But it’s uncertain how much they will get the next week, something hospitals around the state like St. Luke’s have been trying to plan around.

“We know how frustrating this is for people and that they really want to get their vaccine and we want to give it to them. And we will open up additional spots if we get additional vaccine allocated to us from the state,” said Van Deelen.

Another issue has been trying to make it more accessible for patients to get a shot. Besides over the web, St. Luke’s COVID-19 vaccine hotline was meant for patients to call in and set up an appointment. But due to an overwhelming volume of callers, the phone line was shut down to make room for patients with other care questions.

“Calling and asking about emergent conditions. So we had to clear our phone lines.” said Van Deelen. “We would ask at this point that people do not call if you have questions regarding getting scheduled for a new COVID vaccine or even have questions just in general about the COVID vaccine.”

You can schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine by going to St. Luke’s website, or logging onto the patient portal if you are a patient there. But the hospital is nearly booked over the next four weeks for COVID shots.

With some doses available for more high risk patients in that group. People who qualify will be contacted directly by St. Luke’s staff. Also non-St. Luke’s patients who are eligible should be able to make an appointment by the end of this week.