Waiting in line for vaccine not realistic for many SWFL seniors

Alan Boyd Sr., a Cape Coral veteran, said he and his wife were taken to get vaccinated at Lee County’s first site for seniors on Monday but were turned around and sent home.

They were already at their limits, Boyd said.

“Too bad, sorry,”  he added.

The same thing happened on Tuesday.

Frontline health care workers and people 65 and older are sleeping in their cars and standing in long lines hoping to get their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but that’s not an option for Boyd.

“We sleep in the car, we’ll never get out of it,” Boyd said. “We couldn’t sit out in that hot sun all day long. So I don’t know what they’re going to do with us.”

Flora Gonzales said she will stand in line for her mother so she doesn’t have to. Gonzales’ mother spends her days in an adult-care facility, yet it’s not considered a long-term care facility because she doesn’t spend the night.

Because of that, the facility is not considered a priority, so it will not have a pharmacy or clinic on-site to administer the vaccine.

Gonzales said making people like her mother wait in line doesn’t sit well with her.

“These group facilities were not included in the group for vaccinations,” Gonzales said. “So, you know, I’m very concerned … many individuals are very fragile that would have a hard time standing in line, being there for an hour or two waiting for the vaccine.”

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