ROSENDALE – As Ulster County neared the 70 percent mark of Covid vaccinated adults Friday, health officials were operating a pop-up clinic at Stewart’s in an effort to wipe out the virus here.
“The idea is to come to the high-risk areas and try to get as many people as possible in for a vaccination,” said Dan Proctor, Ulster County’s director of Covid response.
“A lot of them are anti-vaxxers. They are hard-working folks who don’t have the time to go to any big pods sites. They have the time here to get gas and everything. So were trying to bring it out to those types of people,” said Proctor, of the store’s conservative clientele. “We anticipated a lot more than we’ve gotten.”
It was the third such clinic at the convenience store chain since Wednesday, May 26, when the first one was conducted in Milton. Thursday, June 3, a clinic was conducted in Ellenville, and Proctor said 11 people were vaccinated. On the final day, Friday, Proctor expected close to double that number before the parking lot site closed in the late afternoon.
Despite the low numbers, he said this was necessary to help reach the county’s citizens.
“They are not only necessary, they are working very well. This is us bringing the vaccine to people,” he said. “Also today at Stewart’s you get free ice cream and coffee, which is a nice benefit in addition to a life-saving vaccine.”
