MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Cases of COVID-19 may be declining in several parts of the country, but the effort to vaccinate a majority of Americans is still, very much, underway.

Case in point, the Greater Monongalia Co. COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic held a walk-in vaccine clinic on Saturday, May 1, from 8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Jamie Moore, the threat preparedness program manager at the Monongalia Co. Health Department (MCHD), said the goal was to get as many people inoculated as possible.

Walk-in patient with WVU Nurse Jo Watson

“We’ve got a lot of Pfizer vaccines that we’re moving through this clinic and we have lots of appointments available, so the opportunity to get vaccinated is — it’s constant and available to everyone,” Moore said. “And we would like the people to take advantage of that.”

Many people, already, are taking advantage. Three hours into the clinic, roughly 150 people stopped by to receive their first dose, the primer.

That’s in addition to the 550 people who were scheduled to receive their second dose, also known as the booster.

Moore said the public needs to understand that the Pfizer vaccine is very safe and effective. More importantly, he said, the public needs to know there is virtually no wait time at the Greater Monongalia Co. COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic.

“There’s absolutely no waiting for appointments now,” he said. “You can go onto the Greater Monongalia Co. COVID-19 Clinic website and get an appointment for any of the clinics that are open. We are focusing some clinics on boost but we have prime clinics that are available as well. Today we actually did a walk-in clinic and we’ve had over 146 people come through that just were walking by and decided to come in and get their shot.”

“There’s absolutely no waiting for appointments”

According to MCHD, in addition to getting a vaccine, Monongalia Co. residents should continue other
measures to prevent illness. These include wearing a mask in public buildings, keeping a
social distance of at least six feet from others and washing your hands often and thoroughly.

“Get vaccinated, wear your mask, wash your hands,” Moore said. “You know, you do all these things, you’re going to live a happier, healthier and more productive life in covid, in flu and, in all that. So, it all works together and, you know, wearing that mask and getting that shot is huge right now.”

So too is getting tested.

MCHD still offers testing on Mondays and Fridays from 9-11 a.m. at the WVU Rec Center.

Staff at the Greater Monongalia Co. COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic

“Testing is still an important tool in the fight against COVID-19 because many people do not develop symptoms, or are asymptomatic but still infectious,” Dr. Lee Smith, MCHD’s executive director said in a release.

Moore said another tool that is vital could be walk-in vaccine clinics.

After seeing nearly 150 people in the first three hours, Moore said, MCHD and its partners might consider offering more walk-in options to the public.

“I think that’s another tool that’s in our toolbox and I think we will continue to expand that as we move forward.”