KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment will make adjustments to its COVID-19 vaccination site after residents on Tuesday waited in long lines and were not socially distant.
Johnson County resident Carol Caviar said she was relieved to get her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine Tuesday, but the wait outside in the cold wasn't a pleasant one.
"It's freezing here, somebody said it's like Disneyland line and I was like yeah but a lot colder," Caviar said.
JCDHE director Dr. Sanmi Areola, apologized "for the discomfort and the inconvenience" that was experienced at Okun Fieldhouse in Shawnee.
"Our goal, our intent was to get as many of our residents vaccinated as possible today and for the rest of the week," Areola said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Areola said that beginning tomorrow there will be better parking and traffic control, along with additional staffing. At least 20 vaccinators will be on site Wednesday, along with more staff to help with "flow" inside the building and while waiting outside, he said.
"This is a marathon," Areola said. "We are trying to do this in phases so you don’t have to wait too long."
Mary Beverly, Deputy Director for Johnson County Health and Environment, said the department is working hard to make sure long lines aren't a problem for future clinics. She said part of the problem could have been patients showing up an hour early to their appointments.
"We really don't want people to do that because then that can cause a bottleneck, if people can come ten, fifteen minutes before their appointment time I think that's very helpful," Beverly said.
The JCDHE announced last week that it would move into Phase 2 this week and anticipated it would take a while to get through the phase.
This is video from inside one Johnson County location, where the #COVID19 vaccines are being administered. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/bfRBf97b6D
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) January 26, 2021
Dan Danz said Tuesday's line moved quickly once inside.
"Once you snaked through the line it was no big deal," Danz said.
Danz said he's ultimately just glad he has finally received his first shot.
"I've been on self-quarantine with my wife since the first part of March so I'll be glad to be able to get out and move around a little bit," Danz said.
On Monday, JCDHE said all of its 7,584 vaccination slots it had for the week were already booked.
