A COVID-19 vaccine is distributed at the Sunnyview Expo Center site in Oshkosh. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — One of the area’s first COVID-19 vaccine clinics was held Thursday in Winnebago County.
At the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh on Thursday literally anyone could just walk in off the street to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
For some people, it was their first opportunity to get the vaccine.
“I tried to get it through my doctor’s office, ThedaCare, and they didn’t have any openings,” Sandra Lacount from Menasha said.
Lacount has COPD and asthma. She said she’s been trying to get a vaccine for a few weeks.
“We’ll still have to wear a mask, of course, but then I’ll be safe around my granddaughter, who’s 12, and my son and daughter,” Lacount said.
Kim Goffard is with the Winnebago County Health Department. She says the walk-in clinic has a specific purpose.
“To simply take away all the barriers we could, to increase accessibility for people,” Goffard said.
A few months ago vaccine supply was limited, but now, they have the doses to make a walk-in clinic happen.
“One of our goals in this walk-in clinic was to kind of test the waters. Seeing as we have had about 60 walk-ins in the first 60 minutes, I think there is more of a demand than we even thought there was,” Goffard said.
Wisconsin is one of the leading states in the nation for vaccine rollout, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Appointments are getting somewhat easier to book because we are expanding access across the state and because we have had increase in vaccine supply,” Julie Willems Van Dijk with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said in a press briefing earlier this week.
Vaccinations are also available by appointment at Sunnyview Expo Center. Mike Sayler says getting the vaccine there was a “breeze.”
“I just did it basically for my mother. She’s 90 years old. I think if I got the COVID I would survive it or I would be okay, but I don’t want to pass it along to anybody like that.”
This won’t be Winnebago County’s last walk-in clinic.
Walk-ins will also be welcome on Wednesday, April 21 from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. You do not need to be a Winnebago County resident to get vaccinated.
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