The line at a drive-thru vaccine clinic at Triangle North Airport in Franklin County caused traffic blockages and prevented people from getting the vaccine.
The Sky 5 video showed the line of cars stretching for at least a kilometer on the nearby road, causing congestion and frustration.
Several people posted complaints on social media or called WRAL while still waiting in line.
One couple, who said they had an appointment for 9:30 am, said they had been in line for a few hours – only to have a police officer direct the traffic advising them to leave and return in two hours.
Michael McDowell, who was also waiting in the long line, said the wait was so bad that he turned and left.
A Facebook message said, “Currently at the Louisburg drive-thru vaccination site. They didn’t start until 10 am, and the line was already 2 miles from the airport at 9:45 am”
Registration information from vaccine organizers says: “Only those who received confirmation by phone or email with the date, time and location of tomorrow’s clinic can attend” and that only “individuals aged 65 and over and health care professionals frontline health workers who completed the registration process are being accepted. “
Franklin County Health Director Scott LaVigne plans to review what the day was like to learn from. He also plans to contact the Wake County Health Director to find out how they can coordinate efforts in the future.
“This is the first time that we have received many people from Wake County and other neighboring counties for this event,” said LaVigne. “This is really what contributed to [the line]. We want to be good neighbors. “
LaVigne says that despite the wait, operations went well. In all, 1,510 patients were vaccinated on Thursday, before they started dispensing people around 3 pm.
“At one point, we had 234 [patients] in an hour that passed, “explained LaVigne.” This is phenomenal. “
Despite organizing the event with registrations and schedules, the long lines and waiting times seemed to be causing many people to miss their opening hours – even preventing some people from getting the COVID-19 vaccine today.
But LaVigne is confident in the county’s ability to make adjustments to the number of patients and, at the same time, carry out the distribution efficiently.
“If we have the vaccine … we will put it in our process and put it on its way. This is what we want to do, this is what we are really good at, ”said LaVigne.
He says he will seek to coordinate with the Wake County Health Department the next round of vaccines at this location.
“What we weren’t ready for was mass migration, for want of a better word, of people coming to [this] location here today, “said LaVigne.” I sent an email to the Wake County Health Director. I want to make sure that we pool our resources … so that we can better coordinate things. “