If you are a Limestone County resident aged 75 or older and interested in getting vaccinated against COVID-19, your moment may have arrived.

Athens-Limestone Hospital and the Limestone County Health Department have each announced they will be opening vaccine clinics Monday to start distributing the first round of COVID-19 vaccine to elderly residents. However, the clinics are by appointment only and the amount of vaccine available is limited.

To sign up for the ALH clinic, residents must call 256-262-6188, email schedule@alhnet.org or visit bit.ly/3sp8fbb to fill out an online form. This puts residents on a waiting list, and the resident will be contacted once an appointment is available.

Felicia Lambert, spokesperson for ALH, said getting vaccines to residents remains a very fluid situation with rapid changes, so a lack of appointment today doesn’t necessarily mean a resident has missed out completely. Even if the clinic is booked, forms remain on the waiting list, and additional openings or shipments of vaccines could be announced at any time.

To participate in the health department’s clinic, residents are asked to call the Alabama Department of Public Health’s toll-free phone number at 1-855-566-5333 to schedule an appointment. Calls will be answered 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The clinic is open not just to elderly residents but also to first responders, including law enforcement and firefighters.

Limestone County Emergency Management Agency issued a traffic advisory regarding the health department clinic. Drivers are warned that Clyde Mabry Drive, where the health department is located, will be right-in/right-out from 8:15 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. next week while the vaccine clinic is open.

Motorists are urged to drive slowly and use extreme caution in the area. Traffic should enter from U.S. 31 south only and exit onto U.S. 31 south only, LCEMA said.