How many Garth Brooks fans got COVID vaccine at Kansas City show? It may surprise you

Health workers set up a vaccine clinic in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot ahead of country music star Garth Brooks’ sold-out show in hopes of encouraging the masses there to get the vaccine — only 35 people did, according to the Kansas City Health Department.

The health department’s mobile vaccination clinic ran from 3-7 p.m. in the parking lot. Those who received the vaccine —including people from Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma — were also entered into a drawing to have their seats upgraded at the concert.

The day before the concert, Brooks, who is fully vaccinated, encouraged others to do the same.

More than 74,500 tickets were sold for the show, a record for an Arrowhead concert, despite the danger of spreading the delta variant of COVID-19 across the Kansas City region.

In the week leading up to the show, the Kansas City metropolitan area added 5,000 more cases. It was 1,000 more than the previous week. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 45% of Kansas residents and 42% in Missouri are fully vaccinated.

“What happens now with this recent spike, everybody’s kind of, you know, worried about, ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ I’m one of them,” Brooks told media before the show. “I’m trying to figure it out as we go.”

Guests were asked to wear masks in enclosed public areas of the stadium unless they are eating or drinking, though masks-wearers were few and far between on the day of the concert.

Other vaccine clinic turnouts

Another vaccine event was held at Swope park the same day as the concert. More than 60 people were vaccinated at Operation Backpack, according to the health department.

The week prior, 333 other people were vaccinated through events and clinics in partnership with the health department.

“We are increasing our efforts to partner with community events to meet people where they are—partnering with schools to get younger people vaccinated, returning to the City Market and coordinating with the upcoming Planet Comicon Kansas City to name a few,” the health department said in a statement provided to The Star Tuesday.

Brooks reassessing stadium tour

Brooks has said he is evaluating whether to continue his stadium tour due to the rising COVID-19 cases across the country. After his concerts in Kansas City and Lincoln, Nebraska, they will assess what to do with the remainder of the shows.

Brooks had already scheduled a three-week break after his Aug. 14 concert in Nebraska.

He mentioned the Kansas City concert during his weekly Inside Studio G Facebook live on Monday. Brooks asked his audience to follow all the rules and echoed the mask wearing sentiment since, “it’s getting real sticky out there.”

Kansas quarantine guidance

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s travel quarantine list includes those who attend “any out-of-state mass gatherings of 500 or more where individuals do not socially distance (6 feet) and wear a mask.”

Garth Brooks fans who were not fully vaccinated were asked to quarantine for seven days with a negative test result or 10 days without testing after the concert.

Those who were fully vaccinated and were asymptomatic after the event do not have to quarantine. The guidance also exempts people who have had COVID-19 in the past six months and can prove it with a positive PCR or antigen test. They should also be asymptomatic after the event.

The Star’s Aaron Torres contributed.