Vaccination center at former Gordmans store in Fargo closes Thursday

FARGO — Sanford is closing its vaccination center at the former Gordmans store on Thursday, July 1, because all of its primary care clinics in the metro area now have COVID-19 vaccine on hand.

Sanford will be giving vaccinations from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday at the center, 5100 14th Ave. S., Fargo.

The former Gordmans had served as a community vaccination center once vaccines became readily available earlier this year, with Sanford, Essentia Health and Fargo Cass Public Health all giving shots at one location.

The center is closing because all of Sanford’s primary care and urgent care clinics in its Fargo region now have COVID-19 vaccines available, said Melodi Krank, a registered nurse who coordinates Sanford’s vaccination program.

“Really, anyone could walk into any of our Sanford doors and receive a vaccine,” she said. Patient traffic at the vaccine center had been steady until about three weeks ago, and now has slowed, Krank said.

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Those 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine. Health providers and public health officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated. More transmissible variants of the coronavirus are spreading.
“The vaccine is still available,” Krank said. “We’re going to continue doing the work.”

Earlier, Essentia and Fargo Cass Public Health moved their vaccination centers out of the Gordmans location and into their clinics.

In March, not long after the vaccination center opened, the three health organizations were jointly administering 8,000 vaccinations per week or more.

Sanford had 10 lines running at a time to move people through quickly at the former department store, which has a spacious 55,000 square feet to allow plenty of room for social distancing.

At its peak, Sanford had 10 nurses giving shots at a time to handle the volume of patients, which exceeded 1,000 per day when demand was at its highest.

“We would never have been able to set that up in any of our clinic settings,” said Melodi Krank, a registered nurse who coordinates Sanford’s vaccination center.