STUART, Iowa — Even though the line formed quickly Friday afternoon at West Central Valley High School, teachers and staff didn't have to wait long to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"I'm glad we get to get it today; that's for sure," said Jim Lindsay, a science teacher and head football and track coach at the Guthrie County school.
For Lindsay, the vaccine is more about making sure his students and athletes stay on track in the classroom and on the field.
"All students need to be in school every day, but maybe some of those kids who are at a little bit of higher risk of not graduating the more structure that we can give them by being in school everyday is so important to getting them through," said Lindsay, who spends much of his time helping students who are struggling academically.
Rusty Shockley, the district's superintendent and principal at the high school said the halls around his school haven't been the same since the pandemic started.
"The hallways are way different, classrooms are different. We have directional hallways, all the different mitigation practices. It's different. With high school kids, there's certain things that they don't like, so its a battle every day," said Shockley.
According to Shockley, the vaccine, which, he said, about 60% of employees want to get, will be key in making the school feel normal again.
"Anything we can do to get back to normalcy for schools and for kids is very, very important," Shockley said.
Friday's clinic is part of the Guthrie County Health Department's strategy for vaccinating eligible county residents under phase 1B. Right now, the county is only able to vaccinate about 200 people a week. With nearly 10,700, it would take months to get to every resident if the county doesn't receive a larger allotment.
Meanwhile, Lindsay, who just minutes after checking in and filing out a short questionnaire had the first dose in his arm.
"Doing this is, again, just one step closer to getting through this whole thing. And I know nothing is perfect, nothing's ever perfect, but I feel like this is the right step to push us through this," he said.