Officials in Haywood County said more than 80 firefighters, EMS, and rescue squad personnel who are frontline care providers were vaccinated last week at a drive-through clinic organized by Haywood County Emergency Services in partnership with Haywood Health and Human Services.
“Vaccinating first responders in Haywood County protects the community in two ways—those with immunity following vaccination will prevent inadvertent spread of COVID-19 when responding to people’s homes and it prevents situations where departments become understaffed with members out sick or quarantined with COVID-19,” said Emergency Services Director Greg Shuping in a news release.
Officials said the drive-thru clinic had the added benefit of providing a test of plans for future mass vaccination efforts, using a similar but, scaled-up model for drive-thru vaccinations.