857 area residents get Covid vaccine at clinic
Many St. Francis County residents and a few residents from neighboring counties attended the Covid-19 vaccination clinic Saturday.
Of the 900 doses of the vaccine available, 857 vaccinations were administered.
“It was a tremendous success,” said Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams.
“It went really great. I was really pleased with the turnout,” agreed St. Francis County Judge Gary Hughes.
“To have the type of turnout we had in the type of weather we had was just amazing,” added Williams.
Residents began arriving at the Larry S. Bryant Multi-Purpose and Wellness Center at 8 Saturday morning where they had their temperatures checked and were asked the standard Covid-19 questions before either waiting in line or in a waiting room for their time slot to come.
“All of our citizens were really patient,” said Hughes, who shared the procedures for getting the shot with those waiting in line.
After completing the paperwork, participants were sent to the basketball court where the shots were administered.
The gym was set up in six stations, which were all manned by volunteers.
“Forrest City did a great job with the organization in conjunction with the health department,” said Hughes, who helped organize the clinic with Williams and Justin Breezeel with Forrest City Family Pharmacy.
“This couldn’t have happened without the numerous volunteers,” said Williams. “A big thank you to the Arkansas Department of Health for making this happen.”
At the vaccination stations, residents were given their shot by another team of volunteers ranging from doctors, nurses, nursing students and others in the health profession.
“We got a lot more of our people vaccinated with this,” said Hughes of the setup.
“This is just a real benefit to our community,” agreed Williams. “It shows the demand for the vaccine. I am extremely delighted with the people we had here to get the vaccine.”
Several of those citizens included people like Clara Noble, who will turn 104 in May.
Noble’s daughter, Annie Randle, said her mother felt like a movie star as several volunteers and members walked them through the process and even took special time to introduce themselves.
Another senior, Sadie Cobb-Smith, 84, had already had the virus and wanted to do anything possible to keep from contracting it again.
“She’s had the virus and said that she doesn’t ever want to go through that again,” said CobbSmith’s daughter, Annie Norman. Norman said her mother had lost over 30 pounds, couldn’t walk or eat while sick and in the hospital. “She took the vaccine because it’s important.”
Residents and volunteers enjoyed music and visiting after moving from the vaccination station to the data entry station to turn in the last of their paperwork and to pick up a 15-minute timer while they sat in the observation area.
Once the timer went off, residents returned them and exited out a different door of the gym to get back to their cars.
“We had more people turn out than we had signed up for it,” said Breezeel. “I think with the weather and everything going on this has been a great thing for the people in and around Forrest City. We’ve even had several people from out of town and county.
“Nobody could have done this by themselves,” Breezeel continued. “It has been good to see people come together and help.” “We really do appreciate all the volunteers,” agreed Hughes. “It is amazing how many people from the community were willing to volunteer.”
Those who received the vaccine on Saturday are expected to return in March to receive their second dose.