Appointments filled for Rotary’s Spring 2021 Blood Screening, but more donors needed for March 30 blood drive

Monica Zalaznik
March 17, 2021

BUCKHANNON – There are no more appointments available for the Spring 2021 Buckhannon-Upshur Rotary blood screenings.

Vice president for marketing, public relations and Foundation for St. Joseph’s Hospital Lisa Wharton told the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur that all the reservation spots have been filled, but interested parties can periodically check https://rotarybloodscreening.as.me/ for cancellations.

“We have the rotary blood screenings in April and May, and they are already booked solid, so hopefully we can open up some more dates in June and July; we just have to see how things go with vaccination clinics and COVID,” Wharton said.

The Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur became a sponsor with six other agencies of community vaccination clinics at the Event Center at Brushy Fork located at 929 Brushy Fork Road in Buckhannon. All vaccines are being given by appointment only.

“[At] tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) clinic, we’re going to be vaccinating about 650 people, Friday we’re going to be close to 800 because a lot of them are coming in for their second dose,” Wharton said.

According to a previous press release, if you have been contacted with an appointment time, please arrive at the center at your scheduled time. To prevent unnecessary wait times and traffic congestion, do not arrive early. Everyone who is scheduled has an assigned vaccine, and all those receiving a vaccine should bring a valid photo ID.

“A special thank-you to all of you in Rotary who have helped out with these vaccine clinics because it takes 50 volunteers to run a clinic, and Rotary is responsible for eight or nine of those, and you guys have really stepped up to the plate,” Wharton said.

The Rotary club has also organized a blood drive that will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30 at the Event Center at Brushy Fork.

“We do have the blood drive coming up on March 30, so I’ll get some more press out about that because we don’t have all the blood donor slots filled,” Wharton said. “If anybody asks you, you can give blood whether you’ve had a COVID shot or not, so that doesn’t make any difference.”