AURORA, IND. — Despite an open invitation encouraging Ohioans, Kentuckians and Hoosiers alike to the mass vaccination site, Aurora, Ind. ended the day having administered only 200 shots out of the 800 available Saturday.
"I don't know if we are getting to the point where we, maybe there is not that many people left who really want it," said Dr. Stephen Eliason, a public health officer for Dearborn County. "We may be getting to the point where there is a bit more apathy about getting it."
Eliason said he believes currently only one third of Dearborn County has received at least one shot -- a number he thinks should be higher.
"We want to stop this thing," he said. "We don't want to just let it linger on for years. If we can stop it then that is when we can quit worrying about new variants. We need to get everyone, as many people in the entire world vaccinated too, it's not just our little county."
Eliason and his team have been authorized to begin giving doses to anyone, even if they live outside of Dearborn County and residents from outside Indiana are included.
Still, turnout for the mass vaccination site was lower than expected.
"They just don't like the idea of needles and a lot of people are really busy and they don't have time to have the side effects," said Bruce Canfield, a site administrator for the mass vaccination site.
Heavy rains that fell across the Tri-State region for much of Saturday could have also kept people away.
Despite the low turnout, the Dearborn County health department said no doses were wasted; Extra doses will be transferred to the Dearborn County Convention Center where the health department holds a daily vaccination clinic.
