For the second day in a row COVID-19 vaccination sites in Lee County reached full capacity nearly two hours before the first shot of two-dose Moderna was scheduled to be given.
The vaccines were offered to high-risk frontline healthcare workers and people 65 and older at three sites — the Old Bonita Springs Library, the Fort Myers STARS Complex and Lehigh Acre’s East County Regional Library.
County officials said at a late afternoon briefing Tuesday that they were satisfied with the way the vaccination sites operated.
County Commissioner Kevin Ruane urged people from outside Lee County to wait for their home county before joining the line for the vaccine.
“Other counties will be provided with the vaccine in the next few days. Residents of other counties should access services in their county and their residence where possible,” said Ruane, the commission chairman. “However, no one will be turned away who meets the requirements of 65 and over.”
All-nighters and early risers crowded the parking lots of the sites, snapping up coveted space in the vaccine line.
While the vaccines were set to be administered between 9 a.m. and noon and again from 2 to 6 p.m., the Florida Department of Health in Lee County needed to halt newcomers to the lines, preventing an afternoon vaccination schedule.
“The sites will finish vaccinating those who were in line before capacity was reached and will then close for the day,” reported Tammy Yzaguirre, the public information officer for Florida Department of Health in Lee County in an email to media outlets.
The county reported about 800 vaccinations were given out Tuesday in Bonita Springs, with the Lehigh Acres and Fort Myers sites each administering about 600 shots. Officials say 630 vaccinations were administered Monday in Estero.
More:Have questions about COVID-19 vaccine in Lee County? Here’s what we know
The county is working on a computerized website that could be offered through the county website.
An online registration system will not be launched until the county technical staff is satisfied that the volume of people trying to get online will not cause the website to crash.
The full amount of vaccine available in Lee County is not being distributed to the vaccination centers each day.
Angela Smith, of the Lee County office of the state Department of Health, said it depends on how many qualified medical personnel are on duty delivering the vaccine each day.
“It’s a federal program, so there are custody chain issues you can’t just hand the vaccine to anybody to just start vaccinating,” Smith said.
Smith added that at least one major medical practice was giving on-site vaccinations Tuesday to help speed along the process of vaccinating front-line medical personnel.
Yzaguirre, the health department spokeswoman, speaking outside the STARS Complex testing site Tuesday, said Lee County residents are the priority in the rollout.
“If someone comes in line and they’re not a resident they will not be turned away; however, we do want to give priority to the residents of the county,” she said.
This includes seasonal residents, or snowbirds. But she warned that Lee County has the Moderna vaccine, which requires a booster shot 28 days later and recipients needs to make sure they are given a second dose by the same manufacturer.
That could be different in other counties.
She urged people to stay tuned to future announcements about upcoming vaccination dates and how the second doses will be handled.
“We are in the works of planning how that second dose will happen. It could be sites like this and it could also be by appointment at our offices,” Yzaguirre said.
DOH: vaccinations ran ‘smoothly’ despite reports of early morning challenges
Despite running out of shots ahead of schedule, Yzaguirre said Tuesday’s rollout was running smoothly thanks to an “all-hands-on-deck” operation that tagged in multiple agencies and departments to keep the lines moving.
The crowds, she added, were also great.
“They have been very patient, cooperative, understanding, we really could not ask for a better turnout and cooperation,” Yzaguirre said. “We have seen that most sites are getting full before 7 a.m., so that’s a good turnout and, of course, there is a huge demand.”
But those waiting in line at the Bonita Springs location had a different experience, at least before dawn.
People spoke about problems arising from a dark parking lot, where people tripped over cement parking bumpers, line-cutting and an exodus of waiters who were concerned about a “super-spreader” event.
Yzaguirre said the Bonita site was full before 6:30 a.m., which can make it difficult to spread out within CDC guidelines. If social distancing isn’t possible, she said, people need to wear masks.
The local vaccination rollout is set to continue Wednesday with vaccinations offered beginning at 9 a.m. at the following sites:
- North Fort Myers Recreation Center, 2000 N. Recreation Parkway, North Fort Myers
- Lakes Regional Library, 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers
- Cultural Park Theatre, 528 Cultural Park Blvd., Cape Coral
People are encouraged to dress for the weather and a long wait outside. Many people in the lines brought their own chairs, and a few had coolers with food and drinks, as well as medications they needed throughout the day.
“That is the most important thing, you know, we want them to be safe and we want them to stay healthy,” Yzaguirre said.
Along those lines, she said the Department of Health is not recommending that people camp out overnight.
“It isn’t safe,” she said.
But this didn’t stop people from doing that Monday night.
All-nighters in Bonita Springs
It was about 7:30 p.m. when Terry Hadler pulled up to the parking lot of the Old Bonita Springs Library.
She may have been about 14 hours early for the first vaccination of the day, but the 69-year-old piano teacher from North Fort Myers knew she had to try for a coveted spot in line, even if it meant being “out all night.”
“I go into the houses of my students, one after another,” said Hadler, who has missed out on teaching her 25 students in the traditional, in-person manner since the springtime shutdowns from the coronavirus.
“In March, my favorite student’s father spent 28 days on a ventilator, and when he got out of the hospital he was on dialysis for a couple of weeks on and on, you know,” Hadler said. “And I don’t want my lungs to turn to stone. What can I say?”
Hadler, who is 69, was the 78th person to line up for the overnight wait. But with space at a minimum, the crowd was asked to condense to make room for newcomers, causing some early morning chaos at the Bonita Springs site.
During the afternoon news conference, Sheriff Carmine Marceno took exception to the use of the term “chaos” to describe the scene at a vaccine center.
“I am briefed continuously, my chain of command is briefed constantly,” Marceno said. “That is absolutely not true.”
During the shuffle, Hadler dropped to the 92nd spot.
“A bunch of people cut us,” Hadler said. “We got rushed pretty bad, so I’m lucky that it wasn’t worse than that.”
In the daylight, the situation improved, with officers helping snake the wait line up and down the parking lot rows.
“Everything is real orderly now,” said Hadler. “It’s good. This is beautiful the way they’re doing it. It was a mess earlier.”
Safety was a concern for Paula Filler, 69, who drove up from Naples with her husband, Ronald, 72.
The two got up at 3 a.m. to make the drive to Bonita, arriving at the vaccination site around 4:15 a.m. They found the parking lot lights off, making it “completely dark” in the crowded parking lot, where they estimated about 300 people were already waiting.
Several times, Paula Filler saw people trip over cement parking bumpers, “an unnecessary danger” to the crowd, she said. She also noted that some problems arose when officers asked people to scoot forward to make more room for newcomers in the parking lot.
“I would say that if they were going to do this again, they should adequately light the parking lot and start passing out numbers much sooner,” she said.
‘Hurry up and wait’
At the Lehigh Acres location, Marianne Ferguson, 70, and her husband, David, were administered the vaccine shortly after 10 a.m.
“We’re just absolutely thrilled,” she said. “I’m a retired nurse practitioner, and I just value the vaccine and the benefits that we’re all going to receive from it. We’re just thrilled.”
The couple drove from Englewood, getting up at 3 a.m. for the commute.
“It’s like the military — hurry up and wait,” joked David Ferguson about the line.
“It’s worth it,” added Marianne. “You know, if the Beatles were playing, we’d be waiting for a concert. It’s right up there, as far as I’m concerned.”
She urged people to continue following the guidance of health officials, like wearing masks, and to get vaccinated.
“I think people need to be calm and they need to be patient, and if everybody vaccinates it’ll be over, but that’s the only way we’re going to get through this,” she said.
One of the last people in line at the Lehigh Acres vaccination site was Marien Ortiz, 44, a Fort Myers resident who works as a lead clinical research coordinator for Vanguard Clinical Research in Fort Myers.
“Right now we have a COVID-19 trial,” said Ortiz, who was donning scrubs.
Ortiz explained how she works “face-to-face” with people on the study and is required to be tested for the virus every week. She cannot even count how many times she’s been asked to quarantine due to potential exposures.
She drove to the STARS Complex in Fort Myers around 6:30 a.m., but said the parking lot “was already packed,” with many people in chairs from waiting overnight.
Ortiz was told the vaccines would be given on a first-come, first-serve basis, a frustration for the health worker who argued there should have been a priority in the line for health workers.
“The FDA did not say first come, first served. They said frontline people and 65 and older. It didn’t say you have to campout,” she said. “It’s not fair.”
She opted to drive to the Lehigh test site, arriving at 7:45 a.m. She just missed the cutoff, but, at the advice of center workers, she stayed in line in hopes she would luck out.
“I’m staying here because I need it,” Ortiz said.
A ‘pleasant experience’ in Fort Myers
Although the wait was long, Maureen and Jim Franey, both 69, called the process at the STARS Complex in Fort Myers “pleasant.” The Cape Coral couple arrived around 6:30 a.m., bringing with them chairs, snacks and water.
“So far, so good,” Maureen Franey said.
The location had bathrooms open for the public to use, and they were pleased with the good weather and how the people in line were offered chairs and water if they needed it.
Their motivation or coming out: being able to reunite with family.
“I haven’t seen my grandchildren in six months, or my children,” Maureen Franey said, referring to her family in Chicago and Grand Rapids.
Although they are able to FaceTime daily, getting vaccinated puts the family more at ease about traveling and being around each other.
“The kids are so excited that we’re getting it,” Maureen Franey said.
For Joe Long, 68, the vaccination was a double hit. One, it would benefit his own health and, two, it would set an example for his parishioners at Unity Christian Church, Disciple of Christ, in Fort Myers.
“I wanted my parishioners to know that it’s OK, so I need to be an example for them, so therefore, I could come out and get vaccinated and I can go back to them and say it’s not that bad, you can come out and you can come participate in this situation.”
Jim Herrell, 68, of Fort Myers, joked that he decided to come out because “they offered, and I accepted.”
Herrell said the vaccine site was operating well, with staff bringing out folding chairs and giving out bottles of water.
“It’s been great,” Herrell said.
Fort Myers News-Press county government reporter Bill Smith contributed to this report.
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