Christian County health officials will try to boost the local COVID-19 vaccine rate with four community clinics in the next couple of weeks, and they hope a direct-mail flyer going to nearly 5,000 Hopkinsville addresses will convince more people to get a shot.
The following clinics are slated:
- Founders Square, Ninth and Main streets — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 9
- Cedar Grove Baptist Church, 1106 E. Second St. — 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 12
- Freeman Chapel CME Church, 137 S. Virginia St. — 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, June 16
- Housing Authority of Hopkinsville, 400 N. Elm St. — 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16
Appointments are not needed, and the vaccine is free.
Christian County has the worst COVID-19 vaccine rate in the state — at slightly less than 20% for all residents as of Friday, June 4.
The flyers are being sent to homes in and around downtown to reach people who live close to the four clinics, said health department spokeswoman Amanda Sweeney Brunt.
The flyer includes a QR code that links to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web page that addresses questions about the vaccines.
“It’s a new approach that we just started utilizing for vaccines, but it may be something we continue as we have other information we need to disseminate,” Sweeney Brunt told Hoptown Chronicle. “We can, at the very least, ensure every resident is targeted.”
The health department surveyed people who came out for clinics at Crofton City Hall and Oak Grove Gaming, Racing and Hotel on May 26 and learned that about 70% of those people heard about the clinic they attended through the department’s first mailed flyer, which targeted Crofton and Oak Grove addresses, said Sweeney Brunt.
Vaccines are also administered every Thursday, by appointment, at the health department, 1700 Canton St.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
