DeKALB – A Mobile Health Unit will be offered by the DeKalb County COVID-19 Response Fund advisory committee and the DeKalb County Health Department to provide health care services, including administering the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Tuesday DeKalb County Health Department news release. 

The mobile unit will be parked in front of the DeKalb Health Department, but will travel to the various events the health department has planned for August and September. It has already been on site at NIU for incoming freshman orientation. The unit is a permanent fixture for the community, according to Melissa Edwards, public information officer of DeKalb County Health Department. 

The mobile unit will help provide care for families through health screenings, education and outreach to community members in need of services. The mobile unit may also give out immunizations and help enroll in health care insurance while also educating the community, according to the news release. 

“The mobile unit will help us expand access to quality health care opportunities throughout DeKalb County and help provide additional convenience-based opportunities for community members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Lisa Gonzalez, public health administrator of DeKalb County Health Department, in the news release. 

Having a Mobile Health Unit will allow the DeKalb County Health Department to give out the COVID-19 vaccine to the most impacted communities and help protect them from the virus, Gonzalez said in the news release. 

The Mobile Health Unit is fully air-conditioned and heated and will have a waiting area that has seating, storage and handwashing stations, a separate exam room and technology to fully secure all record data and support patients’ health visits, according to the news release.