JASPER COUNTY, Texas — Jasper County is not wasting time in getting eligible people vaccinated for COVID-19.
The county now opened operations at the courthouse annex with double the space after being designated as a rural COVID-19 vaccination hub by the state of Texas.
Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said the state has shipped 1,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine for the second week in a row, and another round is on the way next week.
After moving the county's vaccination hub to the Jasper County courthouse annex, the Jasper-Newton County Public Health District went from vaccinating two to three hundred people at first to now vaccinated nearly 1,000. 816 people were vaccinated on Thursday alone.
Allen said people have been driving from across Texas and even Louisiana to Jasper's vaccine hub to get hard-to-find coronavirus vaccines.
"We're fortunate to have the facility to be able to do it and if you have those resources available and you can help, use them," he said. "And that's what we're doing."
Anyone who wants to be vaccinated has to qualify under the state's phase 1A or 1B plan, which is frontline workers and anyone over age 65 or with underlying health conditions.
To schedule, call (409) 384-6829 and dial extension 222. Then County health officials call back people to schedule with a date and time.
Allen said the state gave permission to vaccinate whoever he deems to be essential workers, meaning that some groups outside of phase 1A and 1B can be vaccinated right now.
"We deem teachers and faculty and staff members, bus drivers as essential personnel," he said.
Teachers as well as anyone in public works can get the vaccine in Jasper County, Allen siad.
Godwin Turk, who drove in from Magnolia Springs, said it was a "no-brainer" to get the vaccine now that it is available close to home.
"Nothing hard about it," he said. "Your arm gets just a little sore, but there's nothing for you to be afraid of."
While Allen said he never thought the annex building, which was primarily built as an emergency shelter, would be used as a vaccination hub, he said it has certainly come in handy.