Lubbock Public Health Director gets statewide award for vaccine advocacy - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

The Immunization Partnership handed her the award at its 16th Annual Luncheon at Hotel ZaZa in the Houston Museum District. Wells led Lubbock Public Health's response to the outbreak, which included setting up a drive-up MMR vaccination clinic. The clinic served an average number of people during the crisis, giving Lubbock families a fast, low-contact way to get vaccinated without stepping into a waiting room full of exposed patients.

Lubbock sat close to the center of a measles outbreak that made national headlines this year, so the recognition matters locally. Wells and her department had to move quickly, and the drive-up clinic model became one of the visible ways the city tried to keep the virus from spreading further across West Texas.

For people in Lubbock, the award is less about Wells herself and more about what her department pulled off under pressure. A regional outbreak that could have overwhelmed local health resources instead got a coordinated response, and a statewide organization is now holding that up as a model for other health departments.