About 126 local senior citizens were vaccinated last Monday afternoon at a community clinic organized by medical and non-medical volunteers.

Vaccines were administered by a group of volunteer health care professionals who live or work in Kingfisher County, Erin Scammahorn, one of the clinic organizers, said.

Professionals included Debra Perdue, an advance practice registered nurse, and fellow nurses fellow nurses Rachel Combs and LeAnn Ramsey.

“We also had many non-medical volunteers who helped clean the waiting areas, assist with consent forms, monitor patients during the vaccine recovery period and collect forms,” Scammahorn said.

The event also was assisted by the city of Kingfisher and Kingfisher police and fire departments, Kingfisher Community Collaborative, Department of Human Services and Kingfisher FFA.

“Our intent was to help take some of the burden from the health department by using our skills in a one-day event,” Scammahorn said.

The clinic focused on reaching people over the age of 65 who have limited access to the internet and difficulty leaving their homes.

“We collected names by contacting the Senior Citizen Center, Meals on Wheels, churches and word of mouth,” she said.

Another clinic in March will provide second doses to everyone who received shots last Monday, Scammahorn said.

“We are evaluating the need for additional comunity clinics and working with the health department to ensure our citizens who are wanting the vaccine can receive them,” she said.

Rachel Cameron, nurse practitioner and owner of Trail Creek Wellness Center, is a proponent of the community vaccination clinic but could not participate because of weather-related scheduling at her clinic.

Cameron told the Times & Free Press that she believes vaccinations and other protective measures are having a measurable impact on reducing community spread.

“We have seen a tremendous drop in symptomatic patients, overall volume of testing and the number of positive cases,” she said.

Active cases have been declining in the county since the first of the year, according to state online data.