Residents flock to Greenville vaccine clinic for boosters Saturday

By ASHLEY SAARI

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Published: 11-01-2021 9:22 AM

Nearly 60 people came through the doors of the Chamberlin Free and Public Library Saturday during a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic, almost all of them seeking the recently approved booster shot.

“I haven’t seen so many people in the library in a long time,” said librarian Charles Brault, who was taking down names for a waiting list at the library’s front desk, while the clinic was being held in a quiet corner of the library. “It’s a lot more people than I expected.”

The vast majority of the people who turned out weren’t seeking their first or second dose. Of the more than 50 doses administered Saturday, only three or four were for people who were receiving their first vaccination. The remainder were receiving booster shots. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend boosters for people who are 65 and older, have underlying medical conditions, live in long-term care settings or work or live in a potential high-risk setting. 

Lise Knight of Greenville is a teacher at Highbridge Hill Elementary School in New Ipswich, and said she and her husband came to the clinic to get their boosters.

“I’m a teacher, so I thought it would be a good idea,” Knight said. “And having it in town makes it so convenient. I had to go to Keene for my first one.”

Dotsie Millbrandt of Greenville, also getting her booster, agreed, noting she had waited more than two hours for her first vaccine dose, and 2 1/2 hours for the second when she went to a state vaccine clinic in Nashua.

“A 10-minute wait in Greenville, with friends, is a delight,” she said. “I know I can call CVS or Rite Aid, but that’s the kind of thing I never get around to. And I’ll be traveling at the end of the month, so I wanted to get it done.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children as young as 5 years old, extending the previous age cap of 12 to receive the vaccine. According to the FDA, in a study of approximately 3,100 children ages 5 to 11 who received the vaccination, there have been no serious side effects, and the vaccination has been shown to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

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The approval is so new that Saturday’s clinic was still only offering vaccination to those over 12. Brault said he hopes, if funding remains available, to schedule another clinic at the library, to allow for people who wish to get their booster and those with children now eligible for the vaccination to have easy access.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.

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