Long line of seniors await COVID-19 vaccine in Henry County

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — One West Tennessee county is making progress on vaccinating senior citizens in their community.

Drivers in Henry County lined up and down the road for their chance at getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

“I would expect us here to get through probably close to 750 vaccines today, which is fantastic,” said Director of Pharmacy Dr. Paula Bell.

Early Tuesday morning, the Henry County Medical Center opened up their “Community Vaccination POD” to those 65 and older in the county.

According to Bell, they expect over 1,000 Henry County residents to be vaccinated by the end of the community POD. That’s great news, especially in a state where coronavirus infections are soaring.

“We’re very overwhelmed to get it. Anything that’s going to prevent me from getting the COVID-19,” said Shirley Tyler, who received the vaccine.

“Best case scenario out of your Pfizer vaccine boxes is 1,170 doses,” Bell said.

The process is pretty quick. After they get the shot, medical personnel ask that they wait in the parking lot for 15 to 20 minutes, to make sure there’s no adverse reactions.

“I can assure you that we all would agree that we’ve gone through more vaccine than we’ve expected today, it’s gone so well,” Bell said.

In 21 days, those who received the vaccine with the current event will return for a second dose. Both residents and HCMC employees are anxious to continue the progress.

“I stay at home. I go out when I have to. You have to eat, you have to get your gas, you have to make your doctors appointment, so I go out when I have to,” Tyler said.

“In a rural setting, we’ve been very grateful and very lucky to receive the vaccine we’ve received already,” Bell said.

The medical center announced on their Facebook page Tuesday afternoon that the response was so great, they actually ran out of doses.

The event was originally scheduled to go through Friday.