Beverly Woman Shares Story Of Her Day At Danvers Vaccination Site

DANVERS, MA — Hours of confusion that bordered on chaos ended in the comfort of three coronavirus vaccination shots for Ann Wardlow, her husband and 93-year-old mother in Danvers on Wednesday.

On the same day Gov. Charlie Barker and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders lauded the mass vaccination site at the DoubleTree Hotel as "fast, easy and efficient," the process was anything but that for many who arrived with appointments at the same time hundreds of more people showed up as word spread there could be extra doses available to the general public.

Wardlow shared with Patch her story that included a two-hour wait, being shuttled from line to line with her mother who cannot stand on her own, and ultimately three single first doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

While Wardlow praised the staff — especially a nurse named Maria who delivered the vaccination — and said those in line were "friendly and appreciative," her story entails a long, strange trip to finally getting the shots.

Wardlow said while she had heard the site was "organized and efficient" she arrived for the 2 p.m. appointment to a full parking lot and a long line of people waiting in the February cold. Fearing her mother would not be able to stand outside, she consulted a guard, who told her to bypass the line and showed them to the front door — "where the people with appointments go," they were told.

"People with appointments?" she said she thought. "Did that mean there were people without appointments? I spent countless hours getting my mother this appointment, which was required, as far as I knew."

Wardlow said she and her mother put on their double masks and were "confused but compliant" as they headed into the hotel and secured the last remaining wheelchair. Someone with a badge pointed the way to where the people with the 2 p.m. appointments were, and Wardlow and her mother ran into another long line where "the 1:30 people hadn't even been seen, and it was already 2."

"I called my husband, who was parking the car, and asked him to come and help me," Wardlow said. "We didn't want to lose our space in line in case we needed to use the ladies room."

A half-hour later, the family made a turn in the hallway and were joined with a group that had been waiting outside in the cold with 2 p.m. appointments, including someone with a walker and another in a wheelchair.

"Of course, we let them go ahead of us," Wardlow said.

Another half-hour passed, and the family was now in a large hallway space where some people were sitting and some standing in line. They were told they could sit, but Wardlow said she noticed the standing line was moving while those seated were stationary, so they got back in line.

"Three different people who seemed to have roles there each said three completely different things," she said. "First, a man in a suit announced that if anyone was in that area without an appointment, they needed to leave. A bit later, the woman who had seated us came back and was asked how long people should stay in their seats — she explained something confusing about moving down one seat at a time when it became empty, kind of like a linear game of musical chairs."

Wardlow said they were then shuttled into a "2 p.m. appointment line" but saw the previous line they had been in moving faster, so they shifted back to the original line.

It was about 3:20 — nearly two hours after arrival — when they made it to the hotel ballroom.

"It was like some efficiency expert had graced this ballroom with their brilliance," she said. "In no time at all, my mother, my husband and I were called to one of the many registration stations to check in."

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She showed her mother's insurance and proof of age eligibility.

"Then a miracle happened, and my husband and I — both over 65 — were allowed to register for the vaccine, too," she said. "It made all of the confusion, inefficiency and complete lack of social distancing a lot easier to take."

Ten minutes later, all three received the first dose of Pfizer vaccine and a card for a second vaccination in three weeks.

They stayed for the allergy observation, but Wardlow said there were no side effects and "we were given a sticker and a smile when it was time for us to go."

"Huge congratulations to the medical staff, the military staff and the registration staff," Wardlow said. "You all nailed it. With regard to the confusion prior to getting into the ballroom, I am sure it wouldn't take much work at all to get that organized.

"Ultimately, we are thrilled to have all three of us been vaccinated, when we only thought my mother would receive the vaccine. And we hope for the sake of the public and those working on the vaccine team that more communication about vaccine supply and how to organize and communicate with hundreds of unscheduled people will emerge quickly.

"Huge thanks to everyone in the ballroom for your kindness to my mother, and to us."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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