Henry County sees decline in vaccination signups

Henry County Public Health is seeing fewer people sign up for its COVID-19 vaccination clinics. When the vaccination clinics were first beginning, spots were filled up in a matter of a day or two, but now spots are open and the gap keeps widening.

“It use to be that we’d fill up all our slots within a day or two, but now it’s slowing down a lot,” Henry County Public Health Director Shelley Van Dorin said. “There’s still slots open for our Friday clinic, and only nine people have signed up for the 29th clinic. It’s worrisome.”

Van Dorin believes that the decline in signups for the vaccination is due to the younger generation of the Henry County population.

“The people who wanted it got it and now its just the rest of the public,” she said. “We haven’t seen a lot of the younger people coming in yet, and the younger generation needs to remember that even though they might not be as affected by the virus, they can still spread it to folks that are heavily affected by it.”

Though the lack in signups has caused some worry for Henry County Public Health, that is not stopping them from moving forward with the COVID vaccination clinics.

“The pause on Johnson & Johnson was hard, because we had already received a lot of those doses in preparation for the farmers clinic and business clinics,” Van Dorin said. “However, we had a great turnout for the farmers clinic, and a lot of well mannered, younger farmers came to receive their first dose of the Moderna.

“We still plan on going out to the businesses, and we’re even planning a Hispanic clinic,” she said. “We’re working with someone to translate, and it’ll be secluded to help ease their worries and make them comfortable.”

For more information about the Henry County Public Health COVID-19 vaccination clinics or to sign up, visit healthyhenrycounty.org/publichealth/.