Local hospitals in Mount Pleasant opened the clinic on Jan. 22 to residents eligible for the first injections of the Covid-19 vaccine. But shortly after the drive-thru opened, computer system handling records went down, leaving hundreds of people waiting in heavy traffic.
That’s when Jerry Walkowiak, the manager of a nearby Chick-fil-A, stepped in to save the day.
“When I heard about it, I called Jerry and asked if he would come and help us,” Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie told CNN. ‘After looking at it, he said,’ There is your problem. It is supported because there is one person checking people in. Then he showed us how to do it right. “
With the help of a few extra volunteers, Walkowiak transformed the messy traffic jam into a smooth operation, reducing the hours of waiting time to just 15 minutes.
More than 1,000 people received the vaccine that day, Haynie said. When everyone returns for their second dose on February 12, Walkowiak returns to help manage the drive-thru.
“At Chick-fil-A, we want to be the most caring company in the world, and when Mayor Haynie asked us to come over, we looked at what their drive-thru system was,” Walkowiak told news channel WCBD.
“We saw a little glitch in their drive-thru system, and we needed a few more people, so we gathered some of the great Rotary volunteers and went there and just speed up the registration part.”
According to data published Saturday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 29 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States.
While the US has a long way to go before the pandemic is over, Haynie hopes his city’s experience will encourage others to get vaccinated and help with vaccination efforts.
“Jerry got a call and dropped everything because he knows getting this vaccine out of the closet is a game changer,” Haynie said. “This is what the light looks like at the end of the long Covid tunnel.”