GLENWOOD, Iowa (KMTV) — Mills County Public Health is focusing on Phase 1A by vaccinating healthcare providers and emergency personnel. The department has daily clinics, giving vaccines to 20-40 people a day.
"Right now, we are ahead of schedule," Lorri Greiner, the Director of Nursing, said. "We are a small county and we know most of the people that live here, and that would be in our 1A group. We have contacted them, we have reached out. Most of them who have wanted the vaccine have gotten it already."
Greiner is feeling the historic weight of administering this vaccine.
"Clinics are actually a lot of fun, people are excited to come in, they are excited to get it. We have them wait the 15 minutes like we are supposed to. It's almost a party atmosphere when they are waiting six feet apart," Greiner said.
Elderly folks alone are calling Mills County at least 25-30 times a day, anxious to get the vaccine. Greiner is just as anxious to give it to them.
"It's not unusual to get phone calls at 10:00 at night and at 6:00 in the morning," Greiner said.
Greiner is feeling optimistic about the future. Her experiences on the frontlines have taught her some valuable lessons.
"You have to have patience, you have to have compassion, you have to have thick skin. You can't make everybody happy and you just do the best you can," Greiner said.
Mills County Public Health is waiting to hear from the Iowa Department of Public Health to let them know who is in the next phase of getting vaccinated. That phase is Phase 1B.
