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PARKERSBURG -- Demand significantly exceeded supply for the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department's first round of COVID-19 vaccinations for Wood County residents age 80 and older.
The drive-through event was scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday in the department's parking lot at 211 Sixth St. in downtown Parkersburg. But when Threat Preparedness Coordinator Carrie Brainard arrived around 8:30 a.m., she couldn't get to the office at first.
"The lot was full," Brainard said. "People had traffic blocked on Sixth Street."
Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin said the turnout was a surprise.
"I'd say there was every bit of 300 (vehicles) that showed up for that," he said, noting some cars reportedly rolled in around 2 a.m. "Luckily it was Sunday morning, and there wasn't a whole lot of concentrated traffic."
No citations were issued, Martin said, but many motorists and passengers were frustrated, especially when told they could not receive the vaccination.
The first 50 people were given numbers as planned, and those vaccines were administered Sunday afternoon.
Brainard said the department learned they would be receiving the vaccination doses as the start of a holiday weekend, with New Year's Day falling on Friday.
"We didn't have anyone in the office to be able to take calls or schedule appointments," she said.
The drive-through event was initially announced through an emailed news release late Thursday night. Health Department personnel went to pick up vaccines in Charleston on Friday, but when they returned, it was discovered they'd been given antibody treatment doses instead, Brainard said.
They returned that material but it wasn't until late Friday they confirmed they would still be able to offer vaccinations Sunday, she said. They elected to go forward, rather than holding onto the doses longer.
The department has about 10 doses for each of the other five counties it serves -- Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane and Wirt -- Brainard said, and officials are coordinating with federally qualified health centers in those areas, which also received vaccine doses, to administer them.
"We just don't have the manpower out in the counties for someone to take all of those phone calls," she said.
It's not known when additional doses will be received. Brainard asked people not to call about vaccinations at this point, but encouraged them to monitor the Health Department's website and Facebook page and local media for announcements of additional plans.
"We probably will continue to do a drive-through style, just not first-come, first-serve, until we do the mass vaccinations," she said.
That approach worked several years ago when the department dispensed the H1N1 vaccine, "but we had hundreds of vaccines, not 50," Brainard said.
For now, she asked for patience from the public.
"COVID's serious, and we understand that, and we know that people want this vaccine to protect their loved ones," she said.
Brainard said she took one positive away from Sunday - that people do want to be vaccinated. Public officials have encouraged people to get the vaccine as it becomes available, emphasizing its safety, although some people are concerned about potential side effects.
"The bad thing is that we had so many people turned away. The good thing is we had so many people interested," Brainard said.