VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Improvements are in the works to make the COVID-19 vaccination process at the Virginia Beach Convention Center smoother.
Waiting in the rain frustrated many people in line to get their shot on Monday. Virginia Beach Department of Health officials said many waited for about an hour in the morning, but that ballooned to two hours by the afternoon.
The wait was too long for Jeremy Edge, who is in the 1A tier.
"I just left because it was raining, and I was soaked and it was cold,” Edge said.
Others like Kristin Stock, a school counselor, were in and out in 90 minutes.
“I was surprised with how the process worked,” Stock said. “Of course, I wasn’t one of those folks waiting out in the cold either. I got lucky with the morning appointment.”
Department Emergency Coordinator Bob Engle said they got off on the wrong foot Monday.
“We got off to a slow start due to some technicalities within the vaccine management system that we are using on tablets,” Engle said.
They were 400 shots behind, and Engle said that problem grew in the afternoon as tons of people showed up early to appointments.
“I would discourage that, because we have the vaccine for all the people who have appointments,” Engle said.
It’s a learning curve. Before Monday, officials had only vaccinated 1,250 people in a single day, two days a week. Now they are tackling 3,000 a day, three days a week. They’ll start Wednesday differently.
“We have taken measures tomorrow to add additional vaccinators and we are going to adjust the flow of some of the people in the lobby of the convention center,” Engle said. “We think tomorrow will flow much better.”
By Saturday, the operation will take over a third hall in the Convention Center. They’ll also add more social distancing floor markings.
Engle hopes all measures will help future clinics run smoother.
“And that way if we do have problems -- and we hope we don’t but if we do -- we will be able to get everybody inside the convention center and make sure they are not out in the weather,” Engle said.
The wait was long, but Stock appreciated the volunteers’ cheerful faces along the way.
“As an educator, I just really appreciate them giving back and giving us the opportunity to be vaccinated so we can get back to school and operate where we do our best,” Stock said.
Engle said about 120,000 people in Phase 1B are eligible for the vaccine in Virginia Beach. So far, he said about 40,000 people have pre-registered since their website went live on Monday.
They estimate this phase could take two months to complete.