By Karla Eslinger State Senator – District 33 Last weekend, I took a drive over to West Plains to visit the COVID-19 vaccination clinic conducted by the Missouri National Guard in cooperation with local health officials. I’m not eligible to receive the vaccine yet myself so I didn’t get a shot, but I wanted to see how these mass vaccination sites work. I was absolutely astonished by the level of collaboration and how efficiently they moved people through the process. Advertisement The Howell County Health Department, the City of West Plains, Ozarks Healthcare and Missouri State University-West Plains joined together with the Guard to administer 2,800 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a single day. The event was open to area residents in the Phase 1B vaccine group, which includes those over the age of 65 and people with medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. It was amazing to see everyone work so well together. Over 130 volunteers lent a hand that day – ranging from firefighters, nursing students and city officials. They picked people up from the parking lot in golf carts and took them right up to the door of the West Plains Civic Center. Once inside, participants received information about the vaccine as they moved quickly through line. After the shot was administered, recipients waited in an observation area for a few minutes to make sure there were no negative reactions before getting back on a golf cart for a ride back to their cars.