A large number of vaccine seekers have lined up overnight at Surrey, B.C. clinic, looking for a shot. The new clinic at Newton Athletic Park promised doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to any adult living in one of the region’s transmission hotspots. On Wednesday, the clinic started administering doses and since then, the number of people who are looking for the shot has been steadily growing.
Some people are complaining that the line is not managed well and that perhaps, there will be not enough doses.
Sam Rai, a Surrey resident, told the press:
“They said there were 800 doses and they counted us at about 530. I hope to get a shot… I don’t have a ticket.”
Three drop-in clinics were opened in the Fraser Health region on Tuesday. Unlike those three sites, the clinic at Newton Athletic Park was not announced publicly. It is done so possibly to prevent people from other areas from trying to sneak a dose.
It is still unclear how so many people found out about it, and it is obvious that not all people who are waiting in the line are locals. Although Fraser Health has been silent and refused to comment on this situation, Health Minister Adrian Dix decided to talk to the press:
“A lot of people were immunized. I think we could have done better in terms of communication, and we acknowledge that, and we are working on that.”
By around 2:30 p.m., the clinic had run out of vaccine and some people who had been waiting up to six hours learned they would not be receiving a shot. It remains to be seen if the clinic will receive new doses soon.
