More than 700 people received sore arms in Clay County last Saturday during a mass vaccination clinic at Spencer High School Fieldhouse.

According to Clay County Public Health Coordinator Colette Rossiter, 1,170 doses were available Saturday, meaning the clinic had the potential to vaccinate approximately 460 more people. Nothing went to waste, though, as organizers had a plan in place for the unused doses.

"Since we knew Saturday's schedule wasn't completely full, the pharmacist kept a portion of the vaccine frozen," Rossiter explained. "None of the vaccine has been wasted and is available for use."

Clay County Public Health coordinated the clinic with the Estherville Pharmacy, Avera Medical Group Spencer and Spencer Hospital. Estherville Pharmacy received a large allocation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which enabled the team to offer vaccinations to anyone age 16 or older.

Rossiter said Clay County Public Health will continue offering vaccination opportunities and work closely with local partners and businesses.

"The public will have continued options to schedule vaccination appointments; however, we do not anticipate offering another mass vaccination clinic," she said. "Many pharmacies in the area are offering vaccination opportunities. It appears sufficient vaccine is available to meet the needs of the region at this time."

Rossiter encouraged anyone hesitant about receiving a shot to talk with a health expert and share their concerns. She has visited with several people over the past four months to discuss the vaccine and its benefits.

Rossiter explained that by getting inoculated, people are protecting themselves from what could be a serious or even life-threatening illness. Getting vaccinated also helps stop the threat of spreading the disease to others, especially those who are more at risk.

"While there are some stories floating around that would cause apprehension, most people we talk to afterwards have said they had no side effects or very mild side effects, such as a sore arm at the injection site, headache or chills," Rossiter said. "As health officials, we believe it's more important to focus on the many advantages of getting immunized rather than hesitating because the shot may or may not cause short-term side effects due to a person's immune system response."

Clay County Public Health plans to offer large-scale second dose clinics to match the bigger first-dose clinics held in recent weeks. More information will be released in the near future.

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People wait for their number to be called during last Saturday's vaccination clinic at Spencer High School Fieldhouse. Clay County Public Health is not planning any other mass vaccination events in the immediate future.

"We ask people to consider getting vaccinated," she said. "Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines, and these vaccines will undergo the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history. This monitoring includes using both established and new safety monitoring systems to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe."