Kansas Officials Apologize After Elderly Wait In Cold For COVID Vaccine

KEY POINTS

The Improvements included warming stations, traffic management
The Johnson County vaccine clinic opened early Wednesday
The county is in Phase 2 of its COVID-19 vaccination plan

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination in Kansas was marred by complaints from old people who were made to wait outside in the freezing cold for hours for their turns, prompting Johnson County officials to apologize and promise better arrangements at vaccination centers.

There were long lines outside the Johnson County Health Department-run vaccine clinic in Shawnee on Tuesday, ABC News reported. The county is now vaccinating 80-plus individuals, health care workers and long-term care staff and residents. The vaccine clinic administered 1,778 vaccines on Tuesday and 1600 on Wednesday, ABC News added.

Johnson County officials apologized in a Facebook post for the long lines and announced plans to improve the vaccination process.

“I first want to start by apologizing for the logistics and how it was implemented,” County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson said during a media briefing. “It was not what our county expects or deserves,” she said.

Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, also said in the media briefing that “better traffic control” has been planned. The improvements also included warming stations in buses and physical distancing enforcement.

The clinic also opened half an hour early the next day to accommodate those who showed up much before their appointment, Lori Sand, a spokesperson for the county manager's office, told ABC News.

The county later also posted a video of senior citizens talking about their vaccination experience after the new process was implemented. As of Wednesday, Johnson County had reported 40607 positive cases of COVID-19, government data showed.

Senior citizens in Florida had to wait in long lines earlier this month to get the shots. The chaotic process of vaccination in Florida involved some hospitals implementing a first-come, first-served strategy instead of using a proper registration system. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week announced that residents need to show their state ID or a utility bill to get their COVID vaccine at a state-run vaccination site.