Doctor's effort to vaccinate skeptics opens doors, minds in Hoke County

It's called "microtargeting," an effort to reach unvaccinated people.

Hoke County has the lowest vaccination rate in the state, with only 13.6% of people fully vaccinated.

However, one doctor is pounding the pavement to bring in the vaccine holdouts.

The side door of the stucco house creaks open. The doctor is in.

"How are you feeling today," asks Dr. Karen Smith

A wood-burning stove heats the dimly-lit den.

Polly Jones, 78 years old, sits in her recliner, Band-Aid at the ready.

"This is the Moderna vaccine," said Smith as she administered the first dose.

Smith has a family practice in Raeford. She's planning more vaccination clinics at local poultry processing plants in hopes of convincing more holdouts to get the shots.

"We still find it difficult for people to get to the office," said Smith.

Ms. Jones never had to rise from her recliner.

"Oh, I think it's great, it's wonderful," Jones said.

But it's mid-May; given her age, she could have received the shot months ago.

Her husband, Gilbert, who's fully vaccinated, says she had her misgivings.

"No, she wasn't ready. She was actually scared of it, to tell you the truth. And there was so many people who was talking."

It's all that talking, Smith says, that led to a viral spread of bad vibes about the vaccine in Hoke County.

Which is why she and her nurses are injecting themselves into the community.

"The idea of microtargeting is to get to where the people are," Smith said. "But as a country doctor, this is what we've been doing for years."

And Smith’s not just going home to home. She and her team are hitting convenience stores and churches and factories. When they came to the local Butterball turkey processing plant, many employees had no appetite for the vaccine.

"People were really uncomfortable," Smith said.

Uncomfortable about how fast it came out. Uncomfortable about the government's role. And there was discomfort among African Americans.

"And because I’m black, black people have not done well with health care," Smith said.

Smith stops at the home of 86-year-old Patricia Harrison, who's getting her second dose. She, too, had been vaccine-resistant.

Until Smith cured her of her concerns.

"I believe that people have come to trust that when we are there, and we're giving the vaccine, that's comfortable," Smith said.

A self-styled country doctor, bringing her vials to porches and parlors, has a way of opening doors.