Published May 20, 2021 at 5:01 PM CDT Listen • 4:16
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The Oklahoma City-County Health Department worked with 16 churches to hold a vaccine clinic at Star Spencer High School in northeast Oklahoma City, Okla.
Vaccines on a shelf won’t usher the end of a pandemic, and getting them into arms takes work.
Oklahoma has administered nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Like all other states, it has done so free of charge to residents. That is possible largely because thousands of volunteers pitched into the effort.
Diana Schaeffer retired as a public health nurse in October, as case counts began surging. She knew first-hand how exhausting the pandemic response would be for health department workers across the state; she was chief of nursing at the State Department of Health for 14 years.
StateImpact Oklahoma Feature 5/20/21
Diana Schaeffer retired as a public health nurse in October, as case counts began surging. She knew first-hand how exhausting the pandemic response would be for health department workers across the state; she was chief of nursing at the State Department of Health for 14 years.
“When the vaccines come out, I see this is hope a lifeline, so to speak. And I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something to help.’”
She worked with the Oklahoma City-County health department to start administering shots. She said that it’s rare in volunteering or in any line of work to immediately see the difference you’re getting to make.
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“Our particular congregation has been impacted by COVID,” he said. “We could look at these five deaths that have occurred over the last year attributed to COVID. We even had two mysterious deaths that occurred before they started counting.”
Terrell and his wife, Beverly, went to one of the local vaccination clinics that Oklahoma-City County Health Department sponsored. This one took place in late March at Star Spencer High School, in northeast Oklahoma City, a historically Black community. The department worked with more than a dozen churches in the area to coordinate sign ups in their congregations.
The McCoys say they wanted to lead by example, and show what a blessing the vaccine can be. And to remind people this isn’t their first rodeo with shots.
For Voice of Hope pastor Terrell McCoy, the fight against the coronavirus is personal.
“Our particular congregation has been impacted by COVID,” he said. “We could look at these five deaths that have occurred over the last year attributed to COVID. We even had two mysterious deaths that occurred before they started counting.”
Terrell and his wife, Beverly, went to one of the local vaccination clinics that Oklahoma-City County Health Department sponsored. This one took place in late March at Star Spencer High School, in northeast Oklahoma City, a historically Black community. The department worked with more than a dozen churches in the area to coordinate sign ups in their congregations.