SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The COVID vaccination process continues to hit bumps in Shelby County with some residents with appointments waiting in line for hours, only to get turned away.
One woman WREG’s Peter Fleischer talked to said she knew early on something was wrong when she went Tuesday to get her vaccine.
“It was unbelievable and the line just inched along,” she said.
After five hours of waiting, she received the crushing news.
“It was about ten minutes until 7 when the policeman came to my car and said there was no vaccine,” she recalled.
Residents understand that there is more demand than supply, but to have an appointment, wait all day and then not get a shot?
“Somewhere along the line they should have recognized that they don’t have enough vaccine early on to accommodate everybody,” the woman said.
The Shelby County Health Department released a statement saying, “The Shelby County Health Department is committed to vaccinating as many persons as possible as quickly as possible. Today more people than expected presented at the Pipkin Building to receive vaccine. This resulted in an increase in the number of vaccines delivered. However, there was also an unexpected increase in wait times. Additional staff will be scheduled to address the issue.”
It’s unclear how that happened considering everyone must have an appointment in order to get a vaccine.
On Wednesday, our cameras found hundreds of cars waiting in massive lines. One woman sharing her story believes staff increases may have happened. She returned to get vaccinated and said she noticed things were running more efficiently.