Feb 1, 2021
When Juan Carlos Guerra got the call on Jan. 12 that his county would receive 300 COVID-19 vaccine doses the following day, he went straight to work.
Guerra, the top elected official in rural Jim Hogg County, Texas, got together with local school superintendent Susana Garza, who was helping him lead vaccination planning. They called hundreds of vaccine-eligible residents to schedule appointments, in stark contrast to big cities, where locals report struggling through maddening online registration processes.
Guerra, who has spent his whole life in Jim Hogg, said he knew almost everyone he called, and they trusted him.
The next day, he and his staff staged a makeshift clinic at a local pavilion normally used for livestock shows a plan they had hatched days earlier. Garza donated staff to help register patients, while a local home care company volunteered to screen everyone for fever.
INSIGHT-Personal touch, word of mouth: How U.S. rural communities succeed getting COVID-19 shots into arms Reuters 1/29/2021
By Tina Bellon, Nick Brown and Lisa Baertlein
Jan 29 (Reuters) - When Juan Carlos Guerra got the call on Jan. 12 that his county would receive 300 COVID-19 vaccine doses the following day, he went straight to work.
Guerra, the top elected official in rural Jim Hogg County, Texas, got together with local school superintendent Susana Garza, who was helping him lead vaccination planning. They called hundreds of vaccine-eligible residents to schedule appointments, in stark contrast to big cities, where locals report struggling through maddening online registration processes.
Myrna Warrington, 72, receives the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination from nurse Stephanie Ciancio at Menominee Indian High School in Menominee county, Wisconsin, U.S., January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Lauren Justice
(Reuters) - When Juan Carlos Guerra got the call on Jan. 12 that his county would receive 300 COVID-19 vaccine doses the following day, he went straight to work.
Guerra, the top elected official in rural Jim Hogg County, Texas, got together with local school superintendent Susana Garza, who was helping him lead vaccination planning. They called hundreds of vaccine-eligible residents to schedule appointments, in stark contrast to big cities, where locals report struggling through maddening online registration processes.