BRIGHAM CITY, Utah — Walk-in clinics for the COVID-19 vaccines opened in some counties Monday morning.
WATCH: Some Utah health departments open walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics
Amalia Sepulveda takes advantage of Brigham City’s drop-in clinic. Though, she kind of wishes she wasn’t there.
“Oh gosh, okay, I have the biggest fear of needles on the planet. I’m a baby when it comes to anything about shots,” she said in the passenger seat of her mother’s minivan.
The Utah State University student got her second Pfizer dose, just outside the preferred three week window. She tried unsuccessfully for weeks to schedule the booster shot.
“Full appointments everywhere. We tried to get up in Logan, the fire station but there were no appointments,” said Sepulveda.
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Brigham City’s small drop-in clinic helped about 40 people by noon. The Bear River Health District has 7,000 doses to give out by the end of the week.
“Massive changes in what we’ve seen in the past months and weeks,” said Bear River Health Department Spokesperson Josh Greer.
In Cache, Rich and Box Elder Counties, 2,500 available appointments were open last week. Only 800 were filled.
“We are trying to switch things up a bit. Telling people to just drop in, to see if that changes anything,” said Greer.
“Today, we’ve only had maybe a handful of people that have come through without an appointment,” said Davis County Health Department spokesperson Trevor Warner.
Even fewer people are dropping in at the drive-through site in Farmington. The county has 12,000 doses available this week alone.
“There are plenty there, we just need to find people to get it in their arms,” said Warner.
In Davis County, 42 percent of eligible people are fully vaccinated. In the Bear River District, it’s closer to 30 percent. Doctors suspect it will take 70 to 80 percent to reach so-called herd immunity.
While expecting the worst, Sepulveda is determined to get her second shot.
“I had to get it anyways. Like, I’m not just going to get a vaccine because I’m scared. I want to do my part,” Sepulveda said.