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ARCHIVED - 90-minute delays as large crowds form at Cartagena mass vaccination centre
A long wait in the midday sun as the SMS health service seeks to speed up the immunization campaign
There is little doubt that the SMS regional health service is doing its best to speed up the coronavirus immunization campaign in the light of figures which show that the Region of Murcia is lagging behind the rest of Spain in terms of the proportion of the population vaccinated, but as thousands of people were given appointments at the Cabezo Beaza sports pavilion in the outskirts of Cartagena on Friday morning it appeared that they may have over-estimated their own capacity to deliver so many vaccines on one day.
Long queues formed outside the pavilion as those with appointments were herded into lines according to their appointment time, with around 100 people having been asked to attend every 15 minutes. The result was a wait of around an hour and a half for those who arrived promptly, standing in the sun as temperatures nudged 30 degrees, and the ordeal was lengthened by the difficulties in parking close to the pavilion as thousands flocked there during the morning.
The majority of those attending on Friday morning were in their 50s or 60s, reflecting a determination on the part of the SMS to increase the protection offered to these tranches of the population as the campaign continues to gain momentum. However, after 14 months of avoiding large social gatherings and with the restriction still in place of no more than four people from different households meeting up, many people expressed discomfort at being obliged to be part of a crowd of many hundreds of people mingling indiscriminately with no social distancing measures in place.
The situation may be better managed in coming days and at other centres, but the evidence of Friday morning in Cartagena suggests that anyone called to receive their jabs at the Cabezo Beaza pavilion would be well-advised to take with them a bottle of cold water, a cap, sun cream, a bite to eat, a book to read and maybe even a folding chair - along with a large helping of patience!