The line at a vaccine clinic at Triangle North Airport in Franklin County caused traffic jams and deterred people from the vaccine.
The Sky 5 video showed the line of cars stretching at least a mile down the nearby road, causing traffic congestion and frustration.
Several people posted complaints on social media or called WRAL while they were still waiting in line.
A couple, who said they had an appointment set for 9:30 a.m., said they had been in line for a few hours, only for a deputy who would direct traffic to advise them to leave and return in two hours.
Michael McDowell, who was also waiting in the long queue, said the wait was so bad he turned around and left.
A message on Facebook said, “Currently at the Louisburg vaccination site. They didn’t start until 10 a.m. and the line was already 2 miles from the airport at 9:45 p.m.”
Vaccine organizers ’registration information says,“ Only those who have received confirmation by phone or email with the date, time and location of tomorrow’s clinic can attend ”and that only“ these are people 65 years of age or older and front-line health workers who have completed the accepted registration process. “
Franklin County Health Director Scott LaVigne plans to review how he spent the day learning about it. He also plans to contact the Wake County Health Director about how they could coordinate efforts in the future.
“This is the first time we have a lot of people coming from Wake County and other surrounding counties for this event,” LaVigne said. “That’s what really contributed [the line]. We want to be good neighbors. “
LaVigne says that despite the wait, operations ran fairly smoothly. A total of 1,510 patients were vaccinated on Thursday before they had to start pushing people away around 3 p.m.
“At one point, we had 234 [patients] in an hour we passed, “LaVigne explained.” That ‘s great. “
Despite organizing the event with registrations and appointments, long queues and waiting times seemed to be causing many people to miss their appointment schedules, even deterring some people from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine today.
But LaVigne relies on the county’s ability to make adjustments to the number of patients while continuing to run distribution efficiently.
“If we have the vaccine … we’ll put you in our process and get you on track. That’s what we want to do, that’s what we’re really good at,” LaVigne said.
He says he will try to coordinate with the Wake County Health Department for the next round of vaccinations at that location.
“What we weren’t prepared for was the mass migration, for lack of a better word, of people coming out [this] the location today, “LaVigne said.” I emailed the Wake County Health Director. I want to make sure we share our resources … so we can better coordinate things. “