Local hospitals in Mount Pleasant opened the clinic on January 22 for residents eligible to receive their first vaccines with the Covid-19 vaccine. But shortly after the opening of the drive-thru, the computer system that manages records has declined, causing hundreds of people to wait in heavy traffic.
Then Jerry Walkowiak, the manager of a nearby Chick-fil-A, intervened to save the day.
“When I heard about this, I called Jerry and asked him if he would come and help us,” Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie told CNN. “After analyzing it, he said, ‘There’s your problem right there. It’s a backup because you have a person who checks people.’ Then he showed us how to do it right.”
With the help of a few additional volunteers, Walkowiak turned the messy traffic jam into a smooth operation, reducing the waiting hours to just 15 minutes.
More than 1,000 people received the vaccine that day, Haynie said. When everyone returns for the second dose on February 12, Walkowiak will return to help manage the drive-thru.
“At Chick-fil-A, we’re about to be the most caring company in the world, and when Mayor Haynie asked us to come, we took a look at what their drive-thru system was,” Walkowiak told WCBD news station.
“I saw a little hiccup in their driving system and I needed more people, so I gathered some of the wonderful Rotary volunteers and went down there and we managed to speed up the recording part.
More than 29 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States, according to data released Saturday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the United States has a long way to go before the pandemic ends, Haynie hopes her city’s experience will encourage others to get vaccinated and help with vaccination efforts.
“Jerry got a call and gave it all up because he knows that eliminating this vaccine is a game changer,” Haynie said. “This is what the light at the end of the long Covid tunnel looks like.”