Massachusetts will allow those accompanying people 75 or older to mass vaccination sites to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
A long line formed Wednesday at a mass vaccination site in Danvers, Massachusetts, after word spread that extra doses of the vaccine were available, but some people were ultimately turned away.
Many showed up at the town's DoubleTree Hotel, the only mass vaccination site north of Boston, where 1,100 extra doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were delivered. Once people heard about the situation, the line grew rapidly.
But there were not enough nurses working to distribute them, and there was some confusion over whether appointments were needed.
At one point, a worker came through and said that anyone without an appointment would not get a shot.
Two people who did not want to be identified told NBC10 Boston that they were able to get the vaccine despite not having appointments. Another said that a nurse who gave her mother the shot told her there would be extra doses, and to tell her friends and family to show up at 4 p.m.
Others were turned away.
"I've not only been shuffled down the line as a public school educator once. I've now showed up here," said Deborah Gesualdo. "It's cold, it's hard to park and I've been told, 'No, you can't get vaccinated.'"
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"We tried to honor all our appointments, and then the people who found out through Facebook and texts. We tried to honor those," said nurse Rece Idongernreese. "But families are going home. Nurses are going home. We only have a few left inside that we can actually service."
A nurse at the mass vaccination site Wednesday afternoon said workers would try to give vaccines to people without appointments who'd waited for several hours. But others driving up without an appointment late in the day were being denied.
The confusion over extra vaccines came the same day that Gov. Charlie Baker announced that Massachusetts will soon begin allowing people who accompany seniors 75 and older to be vaccinated, as well.
