Bartholomew County health officials vaccinated more than 100 people at a series of mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics held last month, saying the effort was “successful.”
In May, the Bartholomew County Health Department and WindRose Health Network announced that they would hold a series of mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the county last month — including visits to Elizabethtown, Hope, Taylorsville and Edinburgh.
Mobile vaccination sites were set up in the parking lot of a local McDonald’s, a mobile home park, outside of public schools, at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair, among other locations.
Some of the clinics offered the Pfizer vaccine, while others had the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. At least one clinic offered both.
Overall, 114 people were vaccinated at eight mobile clinics held last month, including:
24 in the Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School parking lot in Hope
24 at the Driftside Home Community Center in Edinburgh
21 at White Diamond Lavender Farm in Hope
16 at Mill St. Deli in Elizabethtown
Nine at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair
Nine in the McDonald’s parking lot in Edinburgh
Seven in the Taylorsville Elementary School parking lot
Four at Heartsville Sweets in Hartsville
Amanda Organist, director of nursing at the Bartholomew County Health Department, said the clinics were “successful.”
“I am pleased with the turnout at the clinics,” Organist said. “…People were vaccinated, and that was the goal. I will continue to say that even if one person came to the clinic, it is successful.”
The series of mobile clinics came as the number of Bartholomew County residents getting vaccinated was declining, mirroring trends seen nationwide.
That trend has continued, state records show.
A total of 288 first doses were administered to Bartholomew County residents last week, down from 2,477 the week of April 11.
Overall, about 46% Bartholomew County’s total population was fully vaccinated as of Wednesday morning, including around 54% of eligible people, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Most infectious disease experts have estimated that at least 70% to 80% of the U.S. population will need to get vaccinated to achieve the threshold they believe is needed to stop uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
Local officials are hoping to vaccinated as many people as possible, especially given the spread of more contagious strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in recent months.
COVID-19 has killed at least 157 Bartholomew County residents over the course of the pandemic, state records show.
