By The Scene staff
When Colleen Doherty showed up on the Forest Park campus to get her COVID-19 vaccine shot on March 25, she was surprised to see hundreds of people standing in line.
The 32-year-old St. Louis woman knew the mass-vaccination site was appointment-only, and she was 15 minutes early for her 10:30 a.m. appointment. She thought perhaps students were waiting to register for classes.
“Where’s the gymnasium?” Doherty asked a Missouri National Guardsman on the stairs outside of E Tower.
Doherty soon realized that the line for vaccinations snaked all the way from the theater building, around the courtyard, past the library, down the stairs by the Student Center, through the quad and over to the physical education building.
The Guardsman suggested the line wouldn’t be so long later in the day. That was enough to persuade Doherty to delay her shot for a few hours.
“I’ve got a doctor’s appointment later this morning, and I’ll come back here this afternoon,” she said.
But patience was rewarded for the hundreds who braved morning temperatures in the 40s. By the end of that Thursday, health-care workers had administered 3,468 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the St. Louis Department of Health.
It was the largest number of people vaccinated for COVID-19 in the city in a single day.
An additional 3,132 residents got their shots at Forest Park the following day, when wait times were much shorter, for a total of 6,600.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported that 18,000 people were vaccinated March 25-27 at three mass-vaccination sites in St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles. St. Louis Community College hosted the one in the city at Forest Park.
Campus President Julie Fickas sent an email on March 30, thanking faculty and staff:
“Our facilities and IT department worked very long days and were able to make sure things were ready at a moment’s notice,” she wrote. “Recruiting made sure that they had videos playing while people waited 15 minutes after their vaccination and also had enrollment information and swag everywhere possible.
They also made sure you couldn’t walk more than a couple of feet without seeing a recruitment sign.
“MarCom prepared signs to help direct people around campus. Campus police had to deal with logistics of dignitaries on campus and many people all over the campus. Everyone working on campus had to park further away from buildings than they normally do. Because of all of this work, 6,600 people in our community are now vaccinated. Thank you for your patience and help through this two-day event.”
Gov. Mike Parson, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and city health officials made appearances at Forest Park, where shots were administered in the gym, the end of up to two-hour waits for many on Thursday.
St. Louis city spokesman Jacob Long attributed the long lines to people arriving early or late for their appointments.
“We understand that there’s still sort of a scarcity mentality,” Long told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “But we are committed to getting a dose to every person who signs up with us. If your appointment’s at 4:30, please don’t show up at noon.”
Some people were forced to spend extra time finding places to park at Forest Park. All of the college’s lots were jammed with cars, forcing many to settle for off-street parking.
In an effort to speed up the line, organizers opened another part of the gymnasium Thursday morning to process paperwork, Long said. By 3 p.m., the wait time was down to 20 or 30 minutes.
Dean Brisker, 44, waited for more than 90 minutes Thursday morning. At one point, he sketched out a serpentine diagram on his phone to send to a friend coming later to show where on campus to find the back of the line.
At the point that Lauren Murphy, 29, and Kyle Murphy, 32, were within 100 yards of the gym entrance, they’d been waiting for an hour and 20 minutes. Lauren Murphy quickly realized she was underdressed for the weather and fetched a blanket and colorful towel from the car to wrap herself in.
Registration emails invited specific people to make appointments for the mass vaccination, but as is often the case, they shared them with friends and family. Some were turned away at Forest Park, a spokesman said, while others left when they realized the error.
Assisting with the mass-vaccination site on campus were representatives of the St. Louis Community College nursing department, St. Louis University School of Nursing, St. Louis Fire Department, Americorps, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Cadets, Webster University School of Nursing, Team Rubicon and Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and Senior Services and Disaster Medical Assistance Team.
Parson has stated that nearly 3 million Missouri residents could receive at least one dose by the end of April at the state’s current rate of vaccine rollout. Weekly allocations for April could hit between 250,000 and 300,000 doses.