Deschutes County COVID-19 vaccination clinics report more people are showing up for shots
More locations, longer hours being considered
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) --Deschutes County's COVID-19 vaccination clinics are seeing an increase in people wanting the shot, largely due to the mandates but for other reasons as well.
“We’ve already given 45 doses this morning in the first hour, which is a great turnout,” said Rachel Balboni, a registered nurse with Deschutes County Health Services.
Balboni was at Redmond City Hall Thursday morning, helping with the clinic held there.
She said she’s happy to see more people getting vaccinated. She believes the increase is due to the recent vaccination mandates, FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, and people making the personal choice to finally get vaccinated.
NewsChannel 21 spoke with a Deschutes County resident, who did not want to be identified, at the Redmond COVID-19 vaccination clinic, who was receiving his first dose.
He said he waited until now to get vaccinated because he was hesitant about how quickly the vaccine had been created.
“It’s been long enough, with a bunch of studies done, that I trust it more to proceed and get the vaccination,” he said.
He added he is not under any mandate to receive the vaccination and doesn’t agree with the mandates that have been put in place by the state and others.
“I just feel personal choice is good, and if you want it, you should get it. If you don’t, you don’t,” he said.
Another person at the vaccination clinic said her brother was getting vaccinated with the first dose as well. Recently, a close family friend of theirs got COVID-19 and was experiencing severe symptoms. That prompted her brother to get vaccinated.
Balboni said with the influx of people coming to COVID-19 vaccination clinics, options like adding more locations or extending clinic hours may be considered.
“We haven’t made any final decisions on any of that," she said. "We have to see what happens in the next few weeks, with the possibility of the booster doses coming up.”
Those decisions will come from Deschutes County Health Services and the Oregon Health Authority.
