The Tippecanoe County Health Department attended the 4-H fair on Tuesday in an effort to promote COVID-19 vaccines.
It’s part of an outreach effort that health officials hope will boost vaccination rates.
There are few things you can always find at the Tippecanoe County fair: a ferris wheel, a nacho stand, corn dogs, and a magic maze.
But this year there’s a new attraction: a booth where attendees can get vaccinated.
Tippecanoe County Health Department Administrator Khala Hochstedler said in their first hour the mobile clinic already saw four visitors. The clinic offers Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson.
“We really need to get to herd immunity,” she said. “So we’re just trying to hit the community and come to the community and meet people where they are. Even if we only do five people tonight, that's a win.”
Less than 50% of Tippecanoe County is fully vaccinated.
Hochstedler said with such a low vaccination rate she worries what a return to school in the fall will have on the spread of COVID-19.
“I do think this year will be tricky with the no-mask,” she said. “We are still encouraging masks and that is the health department stance on it.”
The department has several more vaccine mobile events scheduled over the next two months