By Tim Mastro

DOVER — The Kent County Coalition is no longer giving out hundreds of COVID-19 vaccines per day, like it was doing between March and May.

But each dose administered is still a victory for the Rev. Rita Paige, one of the coalition’s leaders.

“Any number we do is a success,” she said. “It’s that many more than what we had. It’s challenging, but at the same time, it is also rewarding.”

August has been a stronger month than July for the coalition, whose goal is ensuring an equitable distribution of the vaccine. It has administered 294 shots this month as of Wednesday, compared to 231 for all of last month.

April was the coalition’s best month — it administered 4,193 vaccines when Delaware was at its peak for the immunizations. Like the rest of the state, it dealt with waning demand for the shots in the summer months, as June’s total fell to 640.

The coalition has given out a total of 9,522 vaccines since it was formed in March. The group is a partnership between First State Community Action, People’s Place, Bayhealth, NCALL Research, the United Way, NAACP, the Delaware Division of Public Health, the Delaware Pharmacists Society and several other community leaders and churches.

It is attempting to increase its vaccination numbers even more, focusing on local farms and back-to-school events this month, the Rev. Paige said.

Wanda Barrett of United Way Delaware said the coalition hopes to close gaps in Kent County’s rural areas, especially in the Hispanic population. It has been contacting local farm owners to bring vaccines to their workers.

“We’re trying to develop a strategic way to get to the owners of the farm and to let them know their workers need to know about the vaccine and that it is available to them,” Ms. Barrett said.

She added that a calling tree for these agricultural workers has been set up, with the help of local pastors, to get the word out about vaccine events and other availability.

The coalition also hosted clinics at local high schools last week. It vaccinated 24 individuals at an event Aug. 19 at Dover High, followed by another 28 at Polytech on Saturday. It also hosted a back-to-school clinic Saturday through a partnership between Calvary Baptist, Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal, Whatcoat United Methodist, Transformation African Methodist Episcopal Zion and Solid Rock Baptist churches, which ended up vaccinating three people.

More school-based events are scheduled for September, with the first at Towne Point Elementary School on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m., sponsored by Transformation AMEZ Church. The coalition will also be utilizing Kent County’s mobile vaccine unit at Delaware State University’s Wesley campus Wednesday and Thursday from 1-6 p.m.

It will return to the Wesley campus Sept. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for DSU’s “Welcome to Dover” event. The coalition also has a semipermanent site on the university’s main campus, open every Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.