Benson, NC A drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic at West Johnston High School reached capacity just ten minutes after it opened on Wednesday.
Cars were in line for the clinic before 6am, and the lines only got longer during the morning. At 10:10 a.m., staff had to turn away cars.
The clinic, which has held previous events, has been praised by members of the community in recent weeks for its effectiveness in being vaccinated quickly. As a result, health officials from Wake, Harnett, and Wilson counties studied the procedure.
The transit clinic opened at 10 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointments were required, but only people who wanted to visit the first doses of the vaccine were allowed to attend.
Another COVID-19 vaccination clinic opens Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Fayetteville at the Crown Expo Center. Vaccines will be available for people who need the first and second doses of the vaccine.
Before 13:00, the clinic must make appointments online. After 13:00, vaccines are administered on a first-come, first-served basis.
In the triangle, vaccine administration is underway, but a slower process. Wake County received 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday and will receive the same amount for the next two weeks, but the number is less than half of what the country has requested.
On Monday morning, there were still more than 80,000 people on Wake County’s vaccination waiting list.
Officials in Wake and Durham counties are finalizing plans for similar high-capacity vaccination opportunities, at Research Triangle Park and possibly at PNC Arena in Raleigh. Government officials will have to approve the plan and allocate doses to make it possible.
The state distributes approximately 90,000 doses per week among health departments and hospitals, each giving a base amount. The remaining 55,000 doses per week will be sent to communities with a large number of people aged 65 and older who have low incomes or live in rural or marginalized communities, officials said.
Some doses will also be sent to high-capacity vaccination clinics, such as one held Saturday and Sunday at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, where more than 20,000 people were shot – about 800 an hour.