HONESDALE, Pa. — As the sun rose over Honesdale Friday morning, people were lined up outside of Wayne Memorial Hospital as early as 6 a.m., waiting for their turn to get their first dose of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19.
"We got up at 5:30 a.m. so we could be here by 6 a.m. You got to do it, and I'd rather get it than catch it," Connie Lindsay said.
The line wrapped around the sidewalk and up into the parking garage.
Joel Ram came from Gouldsboro to get his vaccine and was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who showed up for the clinic.
"It is very encouraging. And the more people will get vaccinated, the sooner this horrible virus will be a thing of the past," Ram said.
"This is good," Jim Onderdonk said. "Your channel got the word out, and that's why I'm here because I saw it on TV that there was no appointment necessary."
Having an open registration was very important for those who wanted to get vaccinated but struggled with making their appointments online.
"When you have a situation like this where no appointment is necessary, and you can just vaccinate the masses, the more people you can vaccinate without red tape without appointments, the sooner you'll defeat this disease," Ram said.
People had various reasons for wanting to get the vaccine, but they all agreed on one thing: Safety for themselves and those around them.
"Better safe than sorry. And I'm a caretaker for my husband. Do it. You've got to take care of yourself," Mary Docherty said.
"I'm protected," Selena Gravell said. "I feel safe, I feel secured, and to know that I'm protected, and I love it."
Wayne Memorial officials say other clinics are coming up that you must register for, but they hope to do another open clinic like this again.