FARMINGTON, Utah — For the first time since June, a major Davis County vaccination site is back open — this time, for COVID-19 booster shots.
Car after car came through the door Monday on the first day of the site reopening.
“I don’t want to get sick. I don’t want to get COVID,” Eloise Hillabrant said.
“It's easy to get, so why not just get it and knock it out and get it over with?" her husband Steve added.
Howard and Sandy Watson also got their third dose of the vaccine Monday.
“It's nice to be able to drive right through it and do the whole thing. A lot better than some of these places you sit and wait,” Howard said.
One of their reasons for getting the booster shot was that they wanted to celebrate Howard being 79 years young next week.
“His birthday is next week and I wanted to go someplace, and I thought, 'I don’t know if I'd want to go there,'” Sandy said. “I feel better if he has had his third shot.”
It’s that peace of mind that the Davis County Health Department is happy to help with.
“Especially this first day, we have seen people that are very excited to get their booster shot," deputy director Dave Spence said.
So far, the department has given 242,588 doses of the vaccine — reaching just over 53 percent of the county being fully vaccinated.
“I think this whole pandemic, we have done our best ... to look at the data and see exactly where we are going, and it is hard,” Spence said.
Boosters are currently only available for those who had the first two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and they must be at least 65 years old. Those who are 18 and up can also receive it if they have underlying medical conditions, work in high-risk settings or live in high-risk settings.
Those looking to get the booster in Davis County need to make an appointment on the county's online vaccine scheduler.
It will be quick and easy, according to the health department.
"That is genuinely what we are seeing today: People that are very grateful to come down and get their boosters from our location," Spence said.