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La Tapatia Holds Vax Clinic

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COVID-19 vaccines were offered Saturday at La Tapatia Market and Tacos on Green Bag Road.

The vaccines were for employees as well as any customers wanting them.

About a dozen people rolled up a sleeve and took a shot in the arm.

Katie Luckini, whose office was next to the restaurant, helped organize the event through the Monongalia County Health Department.

Health department public information officer MaryWade Burnside has said MCHD wants to  meet people where they are and make it easier for them to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Luckini coordinated with La Tapatia’s owner Silvia Orneles and manager Juan Manuel Cardoso Rosas to choose a busy day to try to reach the most people. She also reached out to the Morgantown/Kingwood branch of the NAACP for help.

Cardoso Rosas previously said bringing the vaccine clinic to his store helps the Hispanic community.

As the Delta variant has become the dominant strain of COVID-19, the increased threat to the unvaccinated has spurred an increase in vaccinations, but the percentage of people vaccinated statewide is not where officials want it to be. Gov. Jim Justice has said the state needs to reach 70%. On Saturday, it was at 49.7%.

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WVU graduate student Cristina Otero hands out registration forms to patients Saturday at a community vaccination clinic hosted by La Tapatia Market and Tacos. Otero and her fellow graduate student from Spain, Patricia Bartolomé, provided interpretation for the predominantly Spanish speaking patients at the clinic.