State and local health officials kicked off a five-day mass vaccination clinic in Elkhart Tuesday morning by announcing the clinic now has enough vaccine supply to accept walk-in appointments.
Deputy State Health Commissioner Pam Pontones said the clinic at the Tolson Center can vaccinate between 500 and 600 people each day, enough to offer walk-in appointments to anyone who can’t easily schedule one.
She said the walk-ins will hopefully help the county reach its younger population, where she says vaccine uptake has been lower.
“Folks are busy, they’re kind of out and about, so we want to remove every barrier that folks may have to receive vaccine,” Pontones said.
Elkhart County Health Officer Dr. Bethany Wait said the number of people who get vaccinated now will be the difference between getting the county back to normal and seeing its daily cases and positivity rate continue to rise.
“That’s why we’re really pushing as many shots as we can for the month of April, the month of May, so we can slow our numbers and then keep our kids in school," Wait said. "That’s how we’re going to keep businesses open as well.”
The Tolson Center clinic will run until Saturday, April 24. A clinic to administer second doses is scheduled for May.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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