DOVER — The state’s three-day COVID-19 vaccination event at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles facility in Dover ended with around 9,000 doses of vaccine administered, some controversy and many lessons learned.

After confusion arose surrounding Saturday’s event, where individuals showed up uninvited and received vaccines, the Delaware Division of Public Health tightened screening protocols for Sunday and Monday’s clinics. Jen Brestel, a spokeswoman for the DPH said a new registration system for these events will be available soon to prevent a repeat of this weekend.

“To prevent this type of confusion in the future, DPH staff and other state agencies worked around the clock through the weekend to develop a registration system for vaccination events, so that individuals can be provided specific vaccination appointments,” Ms. Brestel said in email Monday.

“That system will be available very soon. It is Delaware’s intent to conduct large vaccination events efficiently and safely without the chaos that has been seen in some other states. Please be assured that the experience of this weekend contributed to building a better system for all Delawareans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and months.”

DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay and Delaware State Medical Director Rick Hong were unavailable to answer questions Monday, Ms. Brestel said, as they were administering vaccinations.

At the DMV site in Dover Monday, some people who remained in the parking lot after getting vaccines to monitor potential complications said they waited 2½ to 3½ hours to get their shots.

Vehicles were stopped in line near two entrances on Bay Road southbound just after 1 p.m., but traffic appeared to be moving steadily as police and staff directed the arrivals and departures in and out of the complex.

“It was worth waiting for and the shot was administered smoothly and without any bit of pain,” said Gordon Simmons. “I’m still going to take precautions but definitely feel safer having been here today.”

Mr. Simmons’s wife Sandy chimed in that “This was worth waiting for. The wait was not quite as fun as one at Disney World, but it’s well worth the wait.”
The event was well organized and efficient, according to Mr. Simmons and others who experienced the drive-thru operation.

“All I can say is that it was very well organized and someone did a lot of planning to make it run this smoothly,” said Rehoboth Beach resident Ron Albence.

“The workers running things were very friendly and professional and polite, and I just hope everyone that came through today was just as polite to them because they were doing a great job with it.”

Having gotten the first shot of the two-dose vaccination was a “relief” to Mr. Albence, who said “it shows that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Mr. Albence said he learned of the vaccination opportunity through a text from a friend, along with a message from a church group.

Camden resident Jerome Carey said he was motivated to come because “I just didn’t want to get COVID.” He knows four to five people who had contracted the virus, along with a family member who died from the coronavirus.

With a good friend who died on Saturday night within a week of contracting COVID-19, Jane Van Valkenberg of Townsend, joined by her husband Carl, had plenty of motivation to get to Dover Monday.

“When you see something happen so swiftly, it really is just tragic,” she said.

Ms. Van Valkenberg learned of the drive-thru vaccination through a Zoom call with acquaintances. As for the wait, she said, “We’ve been here three hours and it’s worth it for the peace of mind.

“We’re retired and didn’t have much else to do today, but this was an important thing to do and I’m sure glad that we did it.”

Ms. Brestel of the DPH said Saturday’s clinic vaccinated 2,360 individuals, Sunday’s vaccinated 3,410, and Monday’s likely exceeded 3,000.

Those events in Dover originally were scheduled for Phase 1A health care workers, with the state trying to reach out to school nurses, home-health personnel and dialysis center workers.

Ms. Brestel said some organizations with senior citizen members were asked to recruit a limited number of 65-and-over individuals to test and evaluate the logistics of vaccinating the senior population, and to ensure vaccines didn’t go to waste.

“We did not have the vaccine or the logistical capacity to open this weekend’s pods to all 186,000 Delaware seniors,” she said.

However, according to Ms. Brestle, “word of mouth caused uninvited individuals to arrive on Saturday,” which led to new protocols on Sunday and Monday.

“DPH made the game-time decision to vaccinate those who showed up uninvited, because determining who among the over-65 crowd was invited and who was not, was not logistically feasible,” Ms. Brestel said. “On Sunday and Monday, screening protocols were tightened to ensure that uninvited individuals under age 65 were not vaccinated, but because there was no logistical way to determine which seniors were invited and which were not, DPH made the decision to vaccinate those seniors who showed up uninvited.”

As of Sunday at 11:59 p.m., the state had administered 43,063 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state’s immunization information system DelVAX. The near-3,000 vaccinated at Monday’s event in Dover are not included in that number, which is likely higher due to reporting delays.

Questions about the vaccine can be directed to the Vaccine Call Center at 1-833-643-1715 or emailed to Vaccine@Delaware.gov.