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Yellowstone County community COVID vax clinic at MetraPark, what you need to know

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Posted at 3:43 PM, Feb 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-15 11:39:35-05

BILLINGS — Yellowstone County public health staff will begin offering free COVID-19 vaccinations at a centralized, community vaccination clinic at Cedar Hall on the MetraPark campus starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to a media release from the Unified Health Command.

As with other vaccination clinics in the county, an appointment is required in order to get a vaccine. Appointments can be made online at cw2-montana-production.herokuapp.com. Note there is a space for insurance information in the online form, but that information is not required to get an appointment.

Some appointments have been left open for people who schedule over the phone by calling 406-651-6596. The phone lines open at 9 a.m. Monday.

Vaccine appointments are only available for people in group 1A or 1B. Those groups include healthcare workers, first responders, people age 16-69 with serious health conditions and Native Americans or other people of color who are at a high-risk for a severe case of COVID-19.

People who are waiting to receive a second dose of vaccine should not schedule an appointment at the Cedar Hall clinic. People who've received their first dose from Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare or RiverStone Health should get their second dose at the same location they got their first.

MetraPark Cedar Hall vax clinic hours

  • Feb. 16 (Tuesday): 1 - 4:30 p.m.
  • Feb. 17 (Wednesday): 8 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 4:30 p.m.
  • Feb. 18 (Thursday): 8 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 4:30 p.m.

Blue signs inside the MetraPark entrance of Fourth Avenue North will direct people to Cedar Hall, which is on the southwest end of the midway. Parking is available right in front of Cedar Hall.

People are asked to not go inside until five minutes before their appointment to keep the building less congested. Masks will be required inside and people will need to stay for 15-30 minutes to be observed for allergic reactions.

People will be scheduled for a second dose before they leave Cedar Hall. Click here to view a map of the MetraPark campus showing the location of Cedar Hall.

According to Feb. 8 release from the Unified Health Command, 975 Pfizer doses of vaccine were held from that week's allocation to be administered at the Cedar Hall clinic.

At a press conference Thursday, it was announced Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare and RiverStone Health will begin to transition resources from each of their vaccine clinics to the Cedar Hall site.

Staff at Billings Clinic will still offer first doses at their facility for the weeks of Feb. 15 and Feb. 22.

"Billings Clinic will be administering vaccine on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (February 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20). For an appointment call 406.435.5744. Telephone scheduling for new vaccination appointments is available Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to noon or until appointments are filled. If you are a Billings Clinic patient, you can schedule an appointment through PatientConnect at www.billingsclinic.com/patientconnect. Although the vaccine itself is free of charge, Billings Clinic will bill an administration fee to insurance. Individuals without insurance won’t be billed," the latest Unified Health Command release states.

At St. Vincent, people who have submitted a vaccine notification sign up form will still be contacted when their appointment is available. People will not need to fill out another form, but after Feb. 16, these people's appointments will be moved to the Cedar Hall location.

County health officials recommend not getting a COVID-19 vaccine if you've received any other vaccinations in the last 14 days. After getting a COVID-19 vaccine, people should not receive any other vaccines for 14 days following. And people who've received convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibody treatment should not get a COVID-19 vaccine for at least 90 days.

RELATED: Yellowstone County preparing for first centralized vaccine clinic