DeSoto ISD joined with Methodist Health System to provide the community with a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
All DeSoto ISD staff, their families, and community members were invited to attend. Nurses administered the Pfizer dose, which meant those age 16 and up could receive the shot.
Brothers Crimson and Caimon Mathis have spent most of their sophomore year at home taking classes online but returned to campus to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
"It was important, because my family household, to keep everybody safe and the people that's in the community around me," Crimson Mathis said.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
"I wanted to get it to protect everybody around me," Caimon Mathis said. "I don't want anybody to get it, I know people are dying from it, and a lot of people need to get this shot."
Corey Bedford and his 16-year-old son received the shot together and are hopeful this is a return toward normalcy.
"I’m ready to get back to normal and doing things like we use to do shake people’s hands, give people a hug, just that social interaction again," Bedford said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
His son, Justus, said he got the shot to help others.
"I play sports and I want to do my part to keep my team safe and my family safe when I go back home," Justus Bedford said.
The hope was to give 1,000 shots on Wednesday.
Methodist Health System partnered with DeSoto ISD to make the clinic happen. They've partnered with Lancaster, Duncanville and Cedar Hill school districts to bring similar vaccination clinics to their campuses in the past few weeks.
"It's easier for us to come to them," said President of Methodist Charlton Medical Center Fran Laukaitis. "It's very difficult for teachers to get away during their normal school day and travel any distance to get their vaccine."
Methodist Health System President and Chief Operation Officer Pam Stoyanoff said meeting people where they are will be critical to ending the pandemic.
"People don’t want to leave their community, they don’t want to travel, they’re worried about long lines or they’re afraid," Stoyanoff said. "Some are afraid or hesitant still about the vaccine so we want to educate them, we want to come them, we want to be in the community where they feel comfortable."
The first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will be administered on April 14, and those patients will also be eligible to receive the second dose on May 5 at the same time and location.
The clinic will be located at 620 S. Westmoreland Road, DeSoto, Texas 75115.
