The Warren County Health Department hosted the first publicly available COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the county on Tuesday this week, giving first doses to about 200 people.

The vaccinations were by appointment only. The health department began taking pre-registrations earlier this month, and scheduled appointments with registrants who fall within the priority groups for vaccination, said department Administrator Stacey White. Within the groups eligible for vaccinations, White said appointments are being made with the people who registered first.

Online links to get pre-registered for vaccinations with the county health department and other regional providers can be found at www.warrencountyhealth.com.

White said her department received its first shipment of the Moderna COVID vaccine last Wednesday. The doses were reallocated from what had previously been distributed to regional pharmacies.

The county health department expects to start receiving regular shipments of the vaccine, with the number based on the county’s population size, White said.

“It comes out to about 100 doses per week,” White said, adding that the health department’s allocation should double once it’s time for people to start getting second doses.

To provide the vaccinations, the health department is receiving assistance from several local nurses, along with upper-level nursing students from Goldfar School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College. Although it took some time to get doses of the vaccine, once they were in hand White said it was straightforward to set up the clinic.

“It’s something we’re used to doing, because we do flu clinics, we did the H1N1 clinic, we do clinics in schools. Local public health agencies are used to doing mass clinics,” White commented. “Our challenge has been the reliability of vaccine delivery. We don’t want to set up clinics unless we have vaccine in hand, because too many times you think you’re getting it and you don’t.”

Charles Parris, 75, of Warrenton, was one of the patients who received his first dose of the vaccine on Tuesday. He said he signed up about a week ago, and had been trying to register with multiple regional health providers who are offering vaccinations.

“I’m so glad to get it,” Parris said. “I had an appointment in Columbia, but the snow was so heavy I couldn’t get there.”

Phil Marshall, one of the administrators at the Agape food pantry in Warrenton, also received his first dose of vaccine Tuesday. He said several other staff and volunteers had gotten appointments the same day, and that they’ve been trying to get vaccine appointments since they started becoming available. 

“We have enough public exposure that we wanted to get vaccinated early on,” Marshall said. Many Agape clients don’t necessarily have the ability or opportunity to get the vaccine for themselves yet, so Marshall said Agape staff want to be vaccinated to help protect them.

“We try to minimize how much exposure there is, but nothing is 100-percent risk free,” Marshall commented.