The Iberia Medical Center and the Region 4 Office of Public Health will be sponsoring a distribution event Monday for people wanting to get the Johnson and Johnson/Jannsen single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

Anyone eligible who wants to receive a vaccination must request and receive notification that they have an appointment first.

The event will be held at the Sugarena, 713 Northwest Bypass, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Unlike some testing events that have been held, this will not be a drive-through event.

Although the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been shown to have a slightly lower efficacy than two others, those from Pfizer and Moderna, it has been shown to be effective against COVID-19 variants that have appeared in recent months.

It also requires only one shot, unlike the other two vaccines approved for emergency use.

According to IMC Director of Media Lisa Landry, there is only enough vaccine to inoculate 750 people at Monday’s event. Vaccinations will be available to those people who currently fall into one of the categories eligible to receive the vaccine.

Those categories are:

• Persons 65 years of age or older

• Dialysis patients

• Persons 55-64 years with at least one of the following conditions: cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Down Syndrome, heart conditions, people immunocompromised from solid organ transplant, obesity, severe obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking, or Type 2 diabetes

• All pregnant persons (regardless of age)

• Teachers and support staff working onsite at K-12 schools or daycares

• Frontline healthcare workers

• Recipients of home and community-based waiver services

• Professional home care workers

• Law enforcement and other first responders

• Election workers assigned to work in the March/April election (must present a letter stating that they were selected to work).

The vaccine is available by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, patients can call (337) 374-7420 or email covid19@iberiamedicalcenter.com. Those seeking appointments should leave their name, date of birth and contact number on the voice message or in their email request.

If supply of the vaccine runs out for the event, Iberia Medical Center will accomodate any unscheduled requests as additional supply is available.

Anyone with general questions about vaccinations in the state can dial 211 on their phone or go online to covidvaccine.la.gov.

To schedule an appointment, patients can:

Call (337) 374-7420

Email covid19@iberiamedicalcenter.com.

Leave your name, date of birth and contact number on the voice message or in the email request.

If an appointment is not confirmed for Monday’s event, IMC will accommodate those requests when vaccine supply is available.