KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the final day of the mass vaccination site at the Truman Sports Complex, more than 8,000 people received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot on Saturday.
One of those was Independence resident Jennifer Arndt, who said it was important to get the vaccine.
"I felt it was my duty and just in case that the COVID vaccine is required for traveling abroad, because I do love to travel because I do have family in Germany," Arndt said.
All day, car after car rolled through the screening area and snaked around the lot as staff administered the shots.
"It went really smooth I mean we just got here probably 10 minutes ago," Tiffany Clark, who received a shot, said.
"I had no hesitation, I wanted it. I wanted it real bad," Preston Redwood, who also received a shot, said.
But getting to this point wasn't all smooth sailing for everybody.
"Us older people we don’t have access to computers or emails or anything like that," Gloria Vargas said.
"Yeah we had a little trouble trying to get registered because we got landline and made three phone calls and couldn’t get register and finally got my daughter to get on her computer and she got us registered," Gabriel Vargas said.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said vaccine allotments to Missouri are projected to triple with more than a half million doses estimated to arrive the first week of April.
"So there will be a lot more people eligible and very soon they are going to open it up to everybody so I think the good news is we know there’s a lot more vaccine coming," Matt Gratton, Associate Chief Medical Officer at Truman Medical Centers/University Health, said.
It's a shot providing relief, and hope of better days ahead.
"[It] helps protect me because I’m a diabetic and protect other people that wants the shots," Redwood said.
"Unwittingly I was part of a pandemic and now I voluntarily am being part of hopefully the solution," Ardnt said.
Right now both Kansas and Missouri have over 20% of the population vaccinated with at least the first dose.
If all the shots aren't administered at the mass vaccination event, they will not go to waste and stored in a refrigerated space and used on other date.
