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Broken Arrow's Own Kristin Chenoweth Returns To Oklahoma For Second Vaccine Dose, PSA Campaign

Oklahoma State Department of Health
Singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth, originally from Broken Arrow, returned to Oklahoma to receive her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and film a video with the Oklahoma State Department of Health encouraging residents to do the same.

Broken Arrow-raised Broadway and television star Kristin Chenoweth is the face of a https://vimeo.com/showcase/8378424/video/538797043">new video released this week by the Oklahoma State Department of Health encouraging residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Wicked and Pushing Daisies star said she lost friends, ages 40 and 62, to COVID-19, and watched it devastate New York, where she now lives.

"When it hits you personally, you have a decision to make," Chenoweth said. "My decision was, early on, that as soon as I could and it was safe and allowed, I would get the vaccination."

"Don't be afraid," Chenoweth said. "Do it for yourself so you can have peace of mind and heart and spirit, and then do it for others, to stop the spread, and the spreading so quickly, of COVID-19.

"And then guess what, y'all? We can get back to doing real life the way we enjoy." 

Chenoweth is joined in the video by Dr. Lance Frye, state health commissioner, who answers several common questions about COVID-19, including whether it's possible to become infected with the coronavirus via the vaccine. (It is not.)

To the tune of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical's title song, Chenoweth sings as she receives the injection: "Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain -- no more COVID!"

At a press conference in Tulsa on Tuesday, Frye said he hoped efforts like public messaging, the launching of the new federally supported vaccine site at Tulsa Community College Northeast Campus, and the allocation of vaccine to pharmacies and doctors' offices could bolster Oklahoma's vaccine effort.

After a strong start and weeks in the top ten nationally for percent of the population vaccinated, as of Thursday morning Oklahoma ranked 34th of all 50 states for percent of the population with at least one vaccine dose, according to CDC data.

The vaccine is now available to all Oklahomans, as well as residents of other states, via appointment at vaccinate.oklahoma.gov.

Chris joined Public Radio Tulsa as a news anchor and reporter in April 2020. He’s a graduate of Hunter College and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, both at the City University of New York.
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