Published May 20, 2021 at 5:01 PM CDT Listen • 4:16
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The Oklahoma City-County Health Department worked with 16 churches to hold a vaccine clinic at Star Spencer High School in northeast Oklahoma City, Okla.
Vaccines on a shelf won’t usher the end of a pandemic, and getting them into arms takes work.
Oklahoma has administered nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Like all other states, it has done so free of charge to residents. That is possible largely because thousands of volunteers pitched into the effort.
Diana Schaeffer retired as a public health nurse in October, as case counts began surging. She knew first-hand how exhausting the pandemic response would be for health department workers across the state; she was chief of nursing at the State Department of Health for 14 years.
StateImpact Oklahoma Feature 5/20/21
Diana Schaeffer retired as a public health nurse in October, as case counts began surging. She knew first-hand how exhausting the pandemic response would be for health department workers across the state; she was chief of nursing at the State Department of Health for 14 years.
“When the vaccines come out, I see this is hope a lifeline, so to speak. And I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something to help.’”
She worked with the Oklahoma City-County health department to start administering shots. She said that it’s rare in volunteering or in any line of work to immediately see the difference you’re getting to make.