KUNC
Gene Bracegirdle, a firefighter and EMT trainee from Yampa, receives his first dose of Moderna s COVID-19 vaccine from Roberta Smith (right), Routt County s director of public health. The county launched its mobile vaccine clinic in late December to help vaccinate rural front line workers.
On Christmas Eve, Roberta Smith decided to do something special at work. She put on a Santa costume, complete with bells and striped stockings, and got in her car.
In the back seat sat a toolbox. Inside, a small, blue Igloo cooler carried a chilled vial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Smith, Routt County’s director of public health, was on her way to vaccinate 10 people at the South Routt Medical Center in Oak Creek, a rural community roughly 25 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs.