Austin Public Health to test out drive-thru vaccine clinic at Toney Burger Center

Posted: Mar 18, 2021 / 04:54 PM CDT / Updated: Mar 19, 2021 / 03:08 PM CDT

FILE – In this Feb. 10, 2021, file photo, a man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in North Las Vegas. Catholic leaders in New Orleans and St. Louis are advising Catholics that the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is “morally compromised” because it’s produced using cell lines developed from aborted fetuses. Archdiocese statements in each city say Catholics should choose coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna or Pfizer — if they are available. Johnson & Johnson stresses in a statement Tuesday, March 2, that no fetal tissue is used in the vaccine. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Public Health is planning to test out a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine clinic this weekend at Toney Burger Center in Sunset Valley.

The agency will strive to vaccinate 1,500 people at the pilot, but the site has the potential to serve 3,000 people per day. APH practiced a similar setup in Nov. 2020 for flu shots at the Travis County Expo Center.

Austin Public Health hosted a flu vaccine event on Nov. 7, 2020 at the Travis County Expo Center, as “practice” for distributing a future COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo provided by: Austin Public Health and the City of Austin)

APH explained in a press release Thursday that drive-thru operations are more labor-intensive and require about three times as many volunteers.

APH will also have to redistribute doses from its other sites, as it continues to receive the same amount of doses week-to-week from the state. It has been getting an average of 12,000 Moderna first doses every week, with second doses coming four weeks later.

All APH sites together have the ability to vaccinate up to 37,000 people every week, the agency said.

Travis County also previously hosted a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine operation at the Circuit of the Americas for CommUnityCare patients in four counties. Those counties partnered with Travis County to make it happen.

APH reminds the public all sites are by appointment only. It will be releasing appointments Thursday night at 6 p.m., with a queue starting at 5:45 p.m.