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Drive-thru swab station hours expanded

Drive-thru swab station hours expanded

Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday

With the recent increase in the number of people using the Drive-thru Specimen Collection Station, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County has expanded the hours.

The drive-thru swab station is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday under the awning at the hospital’s main entrance, 1200 College Drive.

These swabs are a shallow nasal swab, unlike the previous collections in which patients were asked to spit into a container or the long nasopharyngeal that were once offered, said Deb Sutton MHSC Public Information Officer.

Appointments can be made at curative.com. You may need to update your web browser to Firefox or Chrome. DO NOT have food, drinks, candy, gum, mouthwash, tobacco, etc. up to 20 minutes before the collection. Once your appointment is set, drive to the swabbing station. Hospital staff will have your kit and will oversee sample collection.

For a COVID-19 vaccine, there are a variety of options:

  • Drive-thru: Sweetwater Memorial’s free COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru is available every Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. at the hospital’s main entrance. Call 307-352-8561 for more information or to schedule a “shot party.”
  • Walk-In: A daily walk-in vaccine clinic is offer by Sweetwater County Public Health from 9-10 a.m. weekdays. Afternoon appointments can be scheduled. Call 307-922-5390.
  • Other sources: sweetwatermemorial.com’s Coronavirus Update page has a For a list of other area agencies and businesses providing the COVID-19 vaccine, go to the Coronavirus Update page at sweetwatermemorial.com.

Pfizer-BioNTech, which received full FDA approval earlier this week, has been approved for anyone 12 and older. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are approved for anyone 18 and older.

“We encourage everyone who is old enough to please get a COVID-19 vaccine,” Sutton said. “Our emergency room has seen a marked increase in coronavirus cases. The majority of those cases have not been vaccinated.

“We thank everyone for their patience during this recent surge in cases. This comes during a nationwide nursing shortage and limited access to bed availability in regional centers for higher levels of care,” she said. “In the meantime, masks and social distancing can help. Anything we as a community can do to reduce the number of people who contract severe respiratory illnesses will help.”