TORRINGTON – Vehicles lined up outside of the Wyoming National Guard Armory for Goshen County Public Health’s inaugural drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Tuesday.
Inside cars, Goshen County’s 70 years of age and older population cranked the heat necessary for a frigid morning and waited to receive their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Outside, GCPH staff donned heavy jackets and gloves and prepared to help Torrington Police Department direct traffic through the assembly line.
A lone chocolate frosted donut sat uneaten on a table near the four vaccine stations in the armory’s covered maintenance bay, seemingly abandoned as eager vaccine recipients arrived a few minutes ahead of the clinic’s 9 a.m. start time.
An October drive-through flu shot clinic was a test run for the events on Jan. 12, but GCPH Director Kelly Beard was still uncertain how smoothly it would run. Eight hours and 200 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines later, it proved successful.
Manon Strong is one of four GCPH nurses who administered COVID-19 vaccines on Jan. 12. A senior citizen herself, Strong lifted her face shield to wipe her eyes as she recalled phone conversations with older, isolated Goshen County residents scheduling their COVID-19 vaccine appointments, eager to be inoculated so they can see their grandchildren after nearly a year.
As each car pulled up to her station, she leaned in to talk with recipients before completing the unceremonious duty of sticking the needle in their arm and sending them off.
“The senior citizens are so appreciative,” Strong said. “They feel like if they get the vaccine now they can see their grandchildren.”
GCPH is scheduling appointments over the phone with residents in phases 1a and 1b who qualify to receive the vaccine at this point. Multiple GCPH staff members, including GCPH Emergency Response Coordinator Heather Saul, said the office’s phone lines have been tied up with residents calling to schedule appointments since the clinics were announced.
“The phone has been ringing nonstop, we are on the phone all the time,” Saul said. In response, GCPH has dedicated one phone line to scheduling – (307) 715-0068 – which residents who are 70 years of age and older can call to put their name on the list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The next drive-through clinics are scheduled for Jan. 19 and Jan. 26 at the armory.
Zelma Hofrock, 82, is immunocompromised, making her more susceptible to complications if she were to contract COVID-19. She arrived an hour ahead of her appointment time, and after receiving the vaccine, she called it “a big relief.”
“I’m glad to see a lot of people here,” she said. “I’m just anxious about the supply when it becomes four weeks from now.”
GCPH automatically schedules follow-up appointments 28 days from when recipients get the initial vaccine, according to Beard. Everyone who was vaccinated on Jan. 12 will receive their second dose during an identical drive-through clinic on Feb. 9, at the same time their initial appointment was scheduled.
Beard said most of the upcoming scheduled clinics are already at capacity. Goshen County is set to receive 400 additional doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this month: 200 before the Jan. 19 clinic and 200 before the Jan. 26 clinic, according to the WDH.
More than 15% of the county’s population, or 2,083 residents, are older than 70, according to the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information. Beard said if the state provides more doses to Goshen County, they will schedule additional clinics and make that information available to the public.
Goshen County is ahead of most of Wyoming’s 26 counties in COVID-19 vaccine distribution as indicated by the list of county COVID-19 vaccine information on the WDH website. Less populated counties, including Goshen and nearby Niobrara who also held a drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinic for phase 1b groups, are able to move more quickly through each phase, according to Saul. In a meeting with other county health departments, Saul said she explained GCPH’s drive-through clinic set-up as a possible model for other counties.
In Goshen County, 130 residents within phase 1a, which includes healthcare personnel, first responders and law enforcement, received the COVID-19 vaccine. Inoculations were also staggered in case of side effects and in order to keep departments staffed and running smoothly, according to Saul.
Uncertainty surrounding the vaccine – the apprehension about a rushed product, suspicion of government and general vaccine anxiety – is also a factor nationwide. According to The Mayo Clinic, the COVID-19 vaccine does not have a microchip as it’s rumored to, and it can cause short-term, mild symptoms, but it does not infect recipients with the coronavirus.
Goshen County’s older residents present on Tuesday donned the required face coverings, ready to receive the vaccine. The drive-through method of distribution proved popular among many.
“It’s very well organized, it doesn’t take long to do,” said Don Hodgson, 80, after receiving one of the first COVID-19 vaccines of the day. “We wear masks all the time, we think this is what we ought to be doing, as a people.”
COVID-19 vaccine recipients Jerry Franklin, 81, and Penny Franklin, 76, had a slight hiccup in their vaccination process when they joined the line of already-vaccinated vehicles in a holding area where cars parked for 15 minutes post-vaccination to ensure there are no immediate side effects.
Once they made their way back to the vaccine line, the Franklin’s both said they didn’t feel the needle enter their arm. They were grateful for the weather that morning, chilly but sunny and without Wyoming’s high winds, and grateful to receive their first dose of the coveted COVID-19 vaccine.
“We were really hoping for it,” Penny said.
“We were ready,” Jerry said. “We’re satisfied.”
