Showers didn’t deter people from getting their COVID-19 vaccinations at the first #VaxToNormal clinic Saturday.
The Greater Emporia Area Disaster Relief Fund went to Riverside Elementary for a drive-thru event that included both vaccinations and testing. Lyon County Public Health Marketing Director Justin Ogleby says the goal is to reach people who otherwise may have difficulties getting vaccinated.
Forty-five people got vaccinated during the clinic. Another 68 got tested.
The original goal may have been strictly expanding access to the vaccine, but Ogleby says the clinic’s timing was good because of the increased presence of the delta variant and other varieties of the original virus across the Central Plains over the past month. Lyon County currently has just two cases of the delta variant and 18 total variant cases, but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is worried about a sharp increase of variants in Missouri and an overall increase in Nebraska — especially with school starting in just over a month and variants targeting unvaccinated residents.
The Disaster Relief Fund has been partnering with Lyon County Public Health, community groups, education, businesses and others to increase vaccination rates across the KVOE listening area — using Saturday’s clinic and weekly prize drawings towards that end. Ogleby says the incentives are “a great idea,” and he hopes those “on the fence” will use those as a final push to get vaccinated.
More information about the #VaxToNormal campaign is online at www.geadisasterrelieffund.org. At this point in time, there are no other clinics scheduled through the campaign. However, people wanting vaccines can go to the Flint Hills Community Health Center. They can either set appointments online through www.publichealth.lyoncounty.org, call the Public Health COVID-19 Hotline at 620-208-3741 or walk in for shots.
At last word, about 48 percent of Lyon County’s vaccination-eligible residents ages 12-plus and about 41 percent of the total county population have been fully vaccinated. Stats for other targeted counties have not been released.
