Local vaccine site to scale back to one day by end of May

Published 8:12 am Tuesday, May 11, 2021

During their work session Monday, the Warren County Board of Supervisors received an update on the drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site at Uptown Vicksburg, formerly the Vicksburg Mall.

Warren County Emergency Management Agency director John Elfer said well over 17,000 shots in arms have been given at the mall, but the number of people lining up to get vaccinated is beginning to decrease.

“This is for several different reasons, I think, so on or about the 24th of this month, we will go to one day. We will go to Wednesdays and then we will see how that carries us into June,” Elfer said.

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Many of the volunteers, who Elfer said are “graciously giving of their time and have done a great job,” want to work.

“The volunteers want to work and put shots in arms,” he said, not stand around idle.

By the end of April, 34 percent of Warren County’s population had received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 26 percent of the county’s population had received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The county’s drive-thru site administers the Moderna vaccine.

The Vicksburg drive-through site, which is managed by the Mississippi State Department of Health, has operated in the back parking lot of Uptown Vicksburg since the beginning of February.

Initially, 400 doses of the vaccine were administered three days each week. By March, the site was administering as many as 800 doses each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

When the Vicksburg site was set up it was the first hybrid site established in the state. Since then, officials said, it served as a model for the rest of the state.

A hybrid site is one that is managed by state health officials but is staffed with local medical volunteers. The site is also supported by the Warren County EMA, Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Warren County Fire, Vicksburg Police Department, Vicksburg Fire Department and the Mississippi National Guard.

About Terri Cowart Frazier

Terri Frazier was born in Cleveland. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Vicksburg. She is a part-time reporter at The Vicksburg Post and is the editor of the Vicksburg Living Magazine, which has been awarded First Place by the Mississippi Press Association. She has also been the recipient of a First Place award in the MPA’s Better Newspaper Contest’s editorial division for the “Best Feature Story.”

Terri graduated from Warren Central High School and Mississippi State University where she received a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

Prior to coming to work at The Post a little more than 10 years ago, she did some freelancing at the Jackson Free Press. But for most of her life, she enjoyed being a full-time stay at home mom.

Terri is a member of the Crawford Street United Methodist Church. She is a lifetime member of the Vicksburg Junior Auxiliary and is a past member of the Sampler Antique Club and Town and Country Garden Club. She is married to Dr. Walter Frazier.

“From staying informed with local governmental issues to hearing the stories of its people, a hometown newspaper is vital to a community. I have felt privileged to be part of a dedicated team at The Post throughout my tenure and hope that with theirs and with local support, I will be able to continue to grow and hone in on my skills as I help share the stories in Vicksburg. When asked what I like most about my job, my answer is always ‘the people.’

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