GASTONIA, N.C. — The Eastridge Mall was transformed into a mass vaccine clinic that opened Friday.
The 1,200 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Gaston County this week, which contributed to Gaston Emergency Medical Services being able to open up the mass vaccination site.
"This opportunity to get additional folks vaccinated now is possible thanks to a tremendous partnership between our department and Public Health," GEMS Chief Mark Lamphiear said in a release. "We are dedicated as an agency as a county to making sure anyone who wants a COVID-19 shot can get one."
The county plans to vaccinate about 1,150 residents on Friday.
Group 3 is currently able to schedule their vaccines. Group 3 includes front-line essential workers such as government and public safety employees, grocery store and manufacturing employees.
Those who were in Groups 1 and 2 are still eligible for a vaccine if they have not already gotten an appointment.
To schedule a vaccine, visit http://gastonsaves.com/covid19vaccine or send an email to covidvaccine@gastongov.com or call 704-866-3170 and leave a message with the call center. The clinic is by appointment only.
Eastridge Mall's set-up there is similar to the Gastonia Farmer's Market vaccine clinic.
"We're going to start staging and putting things together next week," General Manager of The Eastridge Mall Steve Stout said.
With malls dying, Stout says now is the time to repurpose space to meet a different type of demand.
"You have to have something else to offer the public these days other than retail," Stout said.
"One of the really big benefits of this site is that it has the potential for us to scale up pretty considerably than what we've been doing currently," Communications Director for Gaston County, Adam Gaub said.
According to Gaub, the county is administering around 1,200 shots per day when clinics are held, but with this new location more space means more shots into arms.
"The last couple of weeks have been conversations have been about the vaccine supply is a little pinched but that's not going to be the case for much longer and in a couple of weeks we're going to see the vaccine pick up," Gaub said.
Gaston County is paying about $1,500 a month to use the space and then we’re renting other equipment like porta-potties, and large tents to run the site. All in, that’s about $28,000 a month, with tents being one of the bigger expenses.
All the expenses that the county incurs in doing setup for these mass vaccination sites qualify to be paid out of federal CARES Act money.
Stout hoping more foot traffic will help provide a boost to his stores but says being part of the vaccine rollout means so much more.
"Everyone likes to make some money and you can do that and at the same time you can help people as well," Stout said.
Have a relative or friend in another state and want to know when they can get vaccinated? Visit NBC News' Plan Your Vaccine site to find out about each state's vaccine rollout plan.