First drive-thru Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Roanoke set for Saturday

A glitch is causing some people in the 1c group to register for the clinic

ROANOKE, Va – Saturday the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health District will be hosting its first mass drive-thru vaccination event at the Berglund Center.

All 8,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed there this weekend.

According to the department of health, a glitch in the registration system allowed some members of the 1c group to sign up for a shot. The state is investigating the problem but no appointments for the weekend are being canceled at this time.

Carilion is helping oversee the distribution and hopes to use a drive-thru method for most vaccination clinics in the future.

“This is going to be a model we’ve been talking about using for about three to four weeks, and so now we finally have the bulk of the vaccine that we could use this weekend to put it to use and try it out,” Vice President of Support Services at Carilion Tim Auwarter said.

The health district plans to continue to vaccinate the remainder of the phase 1b population through the rest of the week.


About the Author:

Annie Schroeder joined the 10 News team as a reporter in June 2020 and is no stranger to Southwest Virginia.