By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Health Department Director Karla Nichols believes that there is still a need for the public testing facility at the Cosmosphere, even with case counts as low as they have been in months.
"We would all love for COVID to go away," Nichols said. "It probably, realistically, will not go away until we get most of the community vaccinated. We still want people, if they're having symptoms or signs to make sure that you're getting tested, so we know what's going on in the community so we can adjust."
Even though the site for first vaccinations is changing to Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall of the First United Methodist Church at 101 East 1st Avenue, if you got your first shot elsewhere, you need to get your second where you got your first.
"If you received your first dose at the Sports Arena, you will receive your second dose at the Sports Arena," Nichols said. "Then we're at the Sports Arena, we will not be at the church."
The Health Department's appointments are full for the first week of Phase 3 and 4 vaccinations, but they are still scheduling appointments for future weeks.