HOWARD COUNTY, Ind. — Howard County is changing tactics in its struggle with COVID-19 and the effort to vaccinate as many people as possible.
It's moving the health department's small clinic into the Kokomo Event Center, where there is the potential of vaccinating thousands of people a week.
The Howard County Health Department's crowded, small, makeshift clinic is vaccinating 800 people a week.
Mary Alley and her husband Woody have been vaccinated and say they were "relieved" to get it done.
For some people, getting a COVID-19 shot is a hassle. It took a week and a half for Angela Case to get an appointment.
"I kinda got lucky," Case said. "Several people I know it took weeks."
Several said they came to Kokomo because clinics in other counties were booked solid.
When news spread that 300 additional doses of vaccine arrived, people signed up for them before the health department made an official announcement.
"It tells me our community is very interested in getting the vaccine," said Kristina Sommers, the department's public health emergency coordinator. "We are kinda rolling with the punches right now and working with what the state allots us."
According to Sommers, the state expects to ship larger doses of vaccine. The department is moving it's clinic to the event center next week.
There is plenty of room to grow to meet the increasing demand for vaccinations and expectations of getting more doses of vaccines.
Sommers said the department has equipment and staff available to make the event center a mass vaccination site capable of serving as many as 5,000 people a week.
That is a reassuring prospect for people still waiting for their potential life-saving shot in the arm.