Sophia Bautista enjoyed an ice cream treat from one of the many food trucks that were out at Sampson Community College’s campus on Sunday afternoon.
Emily M. Williams | Sampson Independent
Cassandra Torrez stands watching as her son, Elias Torrez picks a duck from the booth managed by Delancey Starkes,
Emily M. Williams | Sampson Independent
Members from the Sampson County Emergency Services were out sharing information with the community.
Emily M. Williams | Sampson Independent
Children were able to jump on bouncy houses.
Courtesy photo
Sampson County Health Department Director Wanda Robinson shared a few words with the community.
Courtesy photo
The Pizazz Band was there to entertain Sunday afternoon.
Courtesy photo
CLINTON — Tents were set up Sunday on the grass out at Sampson Community College along with food trucks for an afternoon of community fun.
The Sampson County Health Department hosted a Community Health Day on the campus with a large scale vaccination clinic for COVID vaccines, as well as a chance for folks to come out and enjoy some sweltering summer sun.
Scattered across the grass were churches, community organizations, healthcare providers and agencies, as well as vaccination sites, with everything socially distanced.
Currently Sampson County is seeing an uptick of the virus, as is the entire state.
Sampson saw 266 new cases of COVID-19 last week, a number that continues to rise. It was 200 the previous week, up from 105 the week prior three weeks ago.
As of last week, approximately 37% had attained full vaccination status in Sampson County and 42% of the county’s population is at least partially vaccinated. Specifically in Sampson, 26,443 first doses and 23,758 second doses had been administered as of last week, according to the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard.
There have been 115 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Sampson County. North Carolina is at approximately 1.1 million cases with 13,826 deaths.
Kelly Parrish, director of Nursing, encouraged folks to come out and get vaccinated.
“Come out and help us stop the spread,” she said.
The clinic was geared towards raising the vaccinated numbers for the county, and incentives were given to folks who came out to get the shot. Each person over 18 was eligible for a $100 incentive, as well as a $25 bonus for driving others.
Food trucks that came out include Dairy Queen, Los Bros Tacos, Yummy Hibachi, J&T’s Simply Delicious and M&M Concessions. The Pizazz Band performed throughout the afternoon as well.
Reach Emily M. Williams at 910-590-9488. Follow her on Twitter at @NCNewsWriter. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.