HARTFORD, Connecticut — UCONN Health has scheduled over 900 appointments Tuesday after receiving around 1,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Connecticut National Guard.
Whether patient or health, officials both say that this time of getting vaccinations is important to not only stop the spread of COVID-19 in the state but to save lives.
Jim Dagnall said, "The lady that did it, did a beautiful job, I hardly felt anything go into my arm."
Lois Carrier from Southington stood with her husband David while speaking with FOX61, she said, "It has to be done, it's something we all should do when we have the opportunity to do it."
Officials say they initially didn't receive one of their weekly orders and had to cancel around 1-thousand appointments.
The backlog causing those appointments to be pushed to this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nurse Joanne Boucher, who is the Director of Ambulatory Operation, said, "It's been all hands on deck from our satellite office at UCONN's health as well as all teams that are not directly involved with the vaccination process, but it's been a team effort. So, it's been tremendous getting 900 plus appointments today in one day."
Patients FOX61 spoke to say they were relieved to get the first dose after being delayed like one woman who encourages everyone currently eligible to get their appointment now.
Rita Dagnall explained, "I rather have a shot today, than a week tomorrow die of COVID because we actually had a call from our daughter and her friend's father, 95, got COVID last week, he died a week later so at this age, we can't any chances."
Other patients say they appreciated the speedy and quick process.
David Carrier said, "The process was very quick, they seemed like they had their act together from being able to move a lot of people around."
Health officials say seeing this many people get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is a positive sign.
Boucher said, "It's a light at the end of the tunnel, it's exciting to see healthy people come in, get vaccinated, and not just see people getting ill and testing them at testing sites."
People who got their vaccines say that they'll be back within the next two weeks to take their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but health officials do advise everyone to be patient when waiting for their turn to be vaccinated.