The Shot And A Shave: Inside A COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic At A Nashua Barbershop

Some of the men who got their vaccine on Saturday, June 5 had questions about its side effects. But at the invitation of Lilo Almonte, La Fama’s owner, many came. He let them know he felt fine after getting his vaccine. (Credit Gabriela Lozada/NHPR)

In the back of La Fama 2 Barbershop in Nashua, a group of men gather around black pleather couches, examining the vials and needles used to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine laid out on the coffee table.

They tease each other about who’s brave enough to get the shot first.

“Do you want me to hold your hand?”  one of Nashua’s public health nurses asks.

“No, no,”  Edgar Ovalle laughs.

He sits down first, and he says he heard about the clinic through his wife’s cousin, who works at La Fama.

“I told him I wanted to get a vaccine, and he called me and told me to come in today,” Ovalle says in Spanish. “Everyone should get vaccinated, because we’re all going to need it.”

The strength of interpersonal relationships brings people into smaller clinics like the one at La Fama 2. These sites are becoming more important to Nashua’s vaccination effort, especially as new vaccination rates slow down, and visits to mass vaccination sites slow to a trickle. As of Sunday, June 6, 43.9% of Hillsborough County was fully vaccinated, which is lower than the state rate of 50.7%.

Read the rest of the story at NHPR’s website.