Delaware held a drive-up first-dose Covid-19 vaccination event on Saturday that was open to all residents over 18.
The event at Dover International Speedway was originally intended for college students but was later expanded to include all residents in need of their first Moderna vaccine dose.
The registration process was straight forward with openings listed on the first page of its website.
By the end of the day, the event was opened residents were invited to simply drive to the site and show proof of residency and age.
The Dover International Speedway site’s vaccination time is coming to an end as the track will see its yearly NASCAR weekend in May. The fall race has been moved to the company’s track near Nashville.
Unlike Pfizer vaccine, people between 16 and 18 cannot receive Moderna doses.
The speedway is about an hour’s drive from much of Delaware and has been the site of an estimated 100,000 vaccinations.
The event was held as the total percentage of state residents receiving one dose of vaccine passed 43 percent.
Boosting that percentage rapidly is difficult, since both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses. about a month apart.
State vaccination sites have been focusing on a backlog of second doses.
A pause on the “one and done” Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine was lifted on Friday, after reports of a rare type of blood clot in women.
Vaccine is more widely available with pharmacies as well as other sites seeing more doses.
Despite the sizable percentage of residents getting vaccinations, coronavirus case numbers have remained elevated in Delaware and elsewhere, perhaps due to the presence of variants that spread more rapidly than the original virus.
Hospitalizations have also risen, with anecdotal reports of younger patients.
The Morning Consult dashboard also breaks out willingness by age, income, race, media consumption and more.
Public health professionals estimate that the spread of the virus can be controlled if 50 percent or more of the total population gets vaccine.
Below is an interactive map from Google and media partners that offers recent figures on vaccinations, deaths and cases. Laptop and desktop computer users can click on the map twice for county-by-county data.
