SUDBURY -- There were plenty of smiles Monday at Primacy Medical Centre in Greater Sudbury as hundreds waited patiently for their chance at a COVID-19 vaccine.
The lines were long at the Lasalle Boulevard centre, the city's first drive-thru vaccine clinic. Nearly 800 people were given their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
"People are really liking the drive-thru model, said Dr. Dennis Reich. "Next time, if we were to do this again, we would allocate a bit more resources to the actual vehicles coming because it was a bit of a backlog."
Reich said they had some initial issues with COVAX -- a provincial software that lets them register people -- which put them a little behind, but said people were patient.
"It's just today and if Public Health wants us to do more of these we'd be very happy to help them out," he said. "They were extremely helpful."
Those who received the shot had to wait 15 minutes before being allowed to leave to make sure they didn't have a reaction.
"It was great, it's been fairly seamless and everything, obviously everyone's interested," said Sean Kautzman after his vaccination. "I'm glad to see the long lineups. It's good, I think, for the community."
"It didn't hurt at all -- it felt way more comfortable than when I got my flu shot a few weeks ago," said Ryan Manahan in the next vehicle.
Everyone was also given their next appointment to have their second shot in four months.
