By PPHD
Gering resident and Scotts Bluff County Commissioner Charlie Knapper shared on the Tuesday briefing how he made the decision to recently get COVID vaccinated. Self-admitting he’s a skeptic and likes to remain objective by informing himself with as many facts and information as possible.
“I’ve been skeptical from day one of everything. I scoured every piece of information I could get my hands on, listening to briefings, catching the nightly and 24-hour news on my phone, listening to news from across the spectrum, and I couldn’t make up my own mind. I was becoming more torn and internally conflicted so I reached out to a childhood friend,” Knapper said.
Knapper’s friend, now a doctor on the west coast with similar views, helped him arrive at his recent decision.
“We went to school together, played ball together, and lifeguarded together in the summer. I knew I could trust him. He’s the doctor, I’m the IT nerd. We agree on everything from parenting to who should take snaps as Nebraska’s quarterback and I decided I was going to trust him,” shared Knapper.
He said an upcoming trip to Florida in a couple of weeks was also a factor and his thoughts about his own kids.
“There are some concerning stories with long haul COVID symptoms of brain lesions and other scary things and I didn’t want those to weigh on my decision,” Knapper added.
A fellow coworker encouraged him to publicly share his choice to get vaccinated and he personally wanted to possibly help someone else make the decision.
Knapper encourages anyone who is skeptical and wants to remain objective to reach out to someone they trust, someone they have a personal relationship with, and ask them how they arrived at their decision.
Vaccinations have protection against all known variants, including Delta. For any youth age 12 and older preparing to return to school, make sure getting your COVID vaccine is on the list. COVID vaccine is available across the Panhandle. There is no charge for the vaccine.
- Box Butte/Grant: https://tinyurl.com/25mwaapu | safeway.com
- Walk-ins welcome
- Dave's Pharmacy Hemingford & Alliance, Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 5:30 PM (Pfizer 2 PM- 5:30 PM)
- Alliance Community Pharmacy, Monday-Friday, 7:30 AM - 6 PM
- Cheyenne/Deuel: https://tinyurl.com/5b5uac8p | walmart.com | safeway.com
- Walk-ins welcome
- During COVID clinic hours visit https://tinyurl.com/5b5uac8p for days and hours
- Dawes/Sioux: https://tinyurl.com/x5d5nnbn | walmart.com | safeway.com
- Walk-ins welcome
- Western Community Health Resources, Monday-Friday, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
- Garden: To schedule an appointment visit vaccinate.ne.gov - provider will call you
- Walk-ins welcome
- Regional West Garden County Clinic Front Desk, Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM
- Kimball: https://tinyurl.com/d2u8txrs
- Walk-ins welcome
- Kimball Health Services, Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM
- Morrill: https://tinyurl.com/sb8mvumm
- Walk-ins welcome
- Morrill County Hospital Clinic, Wednesdays, 8 AM - 4 PM
- Sheridan: https://tinyurl.com/cvrmkv38
- Walk-ins welcome
- Gordon Rural Health Clinic, Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM- 9:30 AM
- Scotts Bluff/Banner: https://tinyurl.com/hkw7wk2p | walmart.com | safeway.com | walgreens.com
- Walk-ins welcome
- Gering CAPWN Health Center, Monday-Friday, 9 AM-12 PM & 1 PM-4 PM
- Scottsbluff County Immunization Clinic, Monday-Friday, 9:40 AM-12:30 PM & 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
- Morrill Clinic, Morrill, June 30, July 21, August 11, September 1, 5:30 PM-6:30 PM
If you are homebound or have a condition that makes it hard for you to access a COVID vaccine, please call Kim Engel at 308-633-2866 ext 101.
People who are fully COVID vaccinated will not be required to quarantine due to close contact. If you have lost your COVID vaccine card, go to https://tinyurl.com/2zh7uhhu.
Unified Command confirms 63 more cases of COVID in the Panhandle since last reporting on Monday, August 2.
