More Than 2,000 Vaccinated During Mass Event March 1-2

More than 2,000 people received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a mass event March 1-2 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cuba.

The mass vaccination team events will assemble again March 22-23 for the second dose.

Honor Evans, administrator at the Crawford County Health Department, declared the event a success.

“It went very smoothly,” said Evans, whose staff worked with the Knights of Columbus, Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, Mercy,  Sinks and Towne Pharmacy, Steelville Drug, North Crawford County Ambulance, Crawford County sheriff’s deputies, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers, the Missouri National Guard, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Jordan Valley Community Health Center.

Evans said they had a lot of help from their partners and support from local businesses.

“It was a nice display of community,” she said.

The National Guard has been assisting at mass vaccination sites across the state.

Mass events are held in each of the state’s nine highway patrol regions.

No dosages went to waste.

Wasted vaccines grabbed headlines last week when Putnam County — located near the Iowa border — disposed 143 dosages.

In Leopold County, only 648 of 1,950 doses were allocated, though none of them were wasted.

Evans said all dosages that went unused at last week’s event are distributed to another clinic.

“There was nothing waste as far as unused doses,” she said.

Even after the mass vaccination event, Crawford County still has one of the lowest rates in the state at 8.4% — still nearly half the state average of 15.5%

Evans was unsure what percentage of the people who received the vaccine last week were county residents. The event is open to people from all over the state.

She said the health department — an approved vaccinator — has administered a dose to everyone on its waiting list.

Supply appears to be ample enough in Crawford County, with several approved vaccinators.