TEXARKANA, Texas - CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System acknowledges long waits for vaccinations during its large-scale clinic Saturday and says it is analyzing problems to smooth operations this weekend.
A St. Michael spokesperson cited "several contributing factors" leading to traffic jams and long outdoor lines on and around the hospital campus Saturday.
"We did get behind by the end of the day," she said.
One person deep in line of cars Saturday said the clinic was a little behind by mid-morning and it was impossible to make a scheduled appointment then.
Leacho Tittle, 70, of Texarkana said he had to wait two hours in a long line of cars on Saturday before being directed to a parking spot on the St. Michael campus. He then waited two more hours outdoors in a line hundreds of people long before finally getting a shot, his first dose of the two-dose regimen. Those physically unable to stand in line were directed in their vehicles to parking closer to the vaccination clinic, he said.
Eric Duncan of Texarkana reported a three-hour wait.
"Once I got inside it was very quick and efficient. I wish I'd known earlier that I could have parked somewhere else and just walked in," he said.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, St. Michael apologized and said it was working to correct the problems.
"We realize our processes did not work as smoothly as our two previous weekends of vaccination hub clinics and apologize for the longer wait times. As you know, providing vaccines on such a large scale is a new process, and managing such an undertaking requires carefully designed logistics with approximately 100 volunteers working each day the vaccine is provided.
"We have carefully analyzed our processes from this past weekend and are making adjustments including extending clinic hours and revising traffic patterns," the statement said.
St. Michael is a state-designated regional vaccination hub, authorized to be allocated large numbers of vaccine doses and administer them as quickly as possible.
Its first weekend vaccination clinic as a hub took place Feb. 13 and Feb. 14. A second planned for the following weekend was canceled because of winter weather, and appointments originally made for Feb. 20 were rescheduled for Feb. 27. On Feb. 22, St. Michael announced it would also administer vaccines on Feb. 28.
The third clinic took place Saturday and included appointments originally scheduled for the following day.
"We rescheduled appointments from March 7 to March 6 due to our experience from previous weekends. Several individuals did not keep their appointments for various reasons, and we believed the 'no show' rate would allow us to administer the vaccine in one day," a spokesperson said.
The coming weekend's appointments have been similarly rescheduled. Those first made for March 14 have been moved to March 13, alongside other appointments previously scheduled for that day. Organizers expect planning adjustments "to enable us to manage a one-day clinic."
St. Michael will administer approximately 1,700 second doses of the Moderna vaccine, and a designated team will administer about 2,000 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Both vaccines require two doses, spaced four or three weeks apart, respectively.
"If individuals originally scheduled for March 14 cannot participate in the clinic for their second doses on March 13, they are given options to receive their second doses on another weekend in late March or early April," the spokesperson said.
St. Michael asks those with appointments to help by arriving on the hospital campus no earlier than 15 minutes prior to their appointments and following the instructions of volunteers directing traffic.