Thousands of people got their flu shots Thursday while a mock disaster drill went on quietly in the background.

“Yesterday we vaccinated 2,582 people,” Pittsburg County Health Department Administrator Mike Echelle said this morning. “At the same time we had our drill and the people who watched it believe we have the capabilities to serve the people in the event we did have a medical emergency.”

The drill, which was called a Mass Immunization Prophylaxis Strategy, or MIPS for short, was evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management and the state Department of Health.

Taking part in the drill were uniformed law enforcement personnel, ambulances and even the SWAT team. “We’re doing this as real as possible, just in case we ever have to really do it, in the event of a pandemic or an emergency,” Det. Capt. Shawn Smith said.

Outside the Expo Center, two SWAT members who were carrying weapons and staring at her car didn’t seem to faze Tonnah Johnson, who only wanted to quickly get a flu shot and be on her way.

Darting her eyes to the side, Johnson pulled her short sleeve a little higher and waited for an agonizing jab.

It never came.

“That was completely painless,” she said in amazement to Mike Dixon, a nursing student volunteer who was giving flu shots Thursday.

“Getting this flu shot, and going through the drive-thru,” Johnson continued, smiling, “were both completely painless.

“I never dreamed it would be so easy.”

Johnson and her husband, Charles, were just two of the thousands of people who took advantage of the first day of the flu clinic, which was held at the Expo. For the next couple of months, or until the vaccine supply runs out, people can get their flu shots at the health department, 620 S. Third St.

The Johnsons drove their car to the Expo Center and never even had to get out of it. Volunteers on both sides of the car gave the couple their shots.

In all, it took about 10 minutes for the Johnsons to enter the Expo property, fill out a form, go through the drive-thru vaccination center, and then exit the flu clinic.

The average time to get a flu shot at the drive-thru location, according to Echelle, was somewhere between five and 15 minutes.

“We wanted this to go fast and it has been,” Echelle said as one car filled with newly-immunized people drove off and another one pulled up to take its place. “If this really was a worst-case scenario, a public health disaster, we could get people immunized quickly and efficiently.”

Next year’s flu clinic will be held at the new Pittsburg County Health Department. Echelle designed it with a portico in front, so that people can still utilize the drive-thru shot option.

But not everybody could take advantage of Thursday’s drive-thru. Clay Doyle, 12, and his 7-year-old sister, Callie, had to go inside the Expo to the walk-in clinic. That’s because officials don’t believe that children should be given shots while they’re in a car.

Callie Doyle, though, didn’t much care where the shots were being given. “I’m not getting one,” she said, tightly closing her eyes as her brother and mother got their flu shots.

And even though the children’s mother offered her a toy in exchange, Callie still refused the shot.

Jenny Snider got her flu shot, though. “I took two ladies with me. I entered the entrance, went down the line, we got our flu shots and got back out on the highway 13 minutes later,” Snider said. “It was so fast and everybody was so efficient and helpful, I just have to brag on them. It was just really, really efficient.”