NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Seeing someone vaccinated out of the car is a pretty common sight, but not when the car is parked in a driveway. "Okay, is the left arm alright?" asked Registered Nurse Rachel Blair.
Welcome to, perhaps, the smallest staffed vaccination clinic in the State of Tennessee -- at Jan Andrew's home. "This has just been really convenient, painless, easy. I take insurance," said Andrews, who is a Nurse Practitioner and owner of her own clinic.
Jan and Rachel administer about five to ten vaccines a day in Jan's driveway, but in order to receive doses from the Tennessee Department of Health, they had to do extensive training. acquire all the right equipment and have back-ups for their back-ups.
"This is our vaccine refrigerator, so we have a shelf for Moderna and for Jansen," explained Blair. "We also have a backup refrigerator and freezer on site as well as two off-site locations that we can contact."
The temperature inside those refrigerators are also monitored around the clock by a special sensor. "We followed all guidelines, we have done drills, we’re ready if something should happen," said Andrews.
Andrews is able to work out of her own because local and state laws have been relaxed during the pandemic, regarding work from home restrictions. NewsChannel 5 first introduced you to Andrews back in November 2020, showing how she took advantage of the pandemic to set up her clinic from home.
The question becomes -- will these laws go back into effect eventually or is this a glimpse at the future of healthcare?
"I think it’s a great idea, I really do, but at the same time it’s going to depend on the counties, it’s going to depend on the homeowner’s associations," said Andrews.
Either way, Andrews plans to keep the practice going, even if she has to eventually move into a commercial space. She also plans on taking the vaccination clinic on the road too, doing small pop-up events in under-served communities. "Just like a day vaccine clinic, maybe do 50," she said.
It may be uncommon, but she's willing to do anything that gets her community a little, immunity. "They feel comfortable coming to me, so I think it’s a good thing. I really do," said Andrews.
