‘Sigh of relief’: Hundreds line up for COVID-19 vaccine at north Charlotte church

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of people in Groups 1-3 lined up to get the COVID-19 vaccine at University Park Baptist Church in north Charlotte on Saturday.

Andre Theberg and his wife, Susan Theberg, had no reservations but waited in the parking lot of the church on Beatties Ford Road. The couple pulled up after the line of people that circled the church thinned.

They tried to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the one-shot vaccine shown effective against all variants of COVID-19, but Andre said they couldn’t get a reservation.

“Whenever I get on it’s difficult. It’s closed. It crashes. We are just not able to get on,” he said.

They heard that there might be extra doses at the clinic hosted by the church with Walgreens and Novant Health.

Organizers told Channel 9 that they gave out a few shots to people who walked up earlier, but almost all 1,200 doses went to people with reservations like 62-year-old Welton Spencer. He said he couldn’t imagine not getting a shot today.

“It would be devastating,” he said.

Spencer has an advanced form of kidney disease. He said stress from COVID-19 might be too much for his body.

“I knew I had to come in and get mine done, and I wanted to get mine done. I feel better now already,” he said.

That kind of relief was felt over and over at the church. Volunteers said some of the people getting shots cried.

“They have been thanking us. They have thanked the volunteers for serving,” said minister Kim Morrison of Park Church.

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At the end of the day, Morrison was able to make one more couple thankful. Channel 9 followed as she went out to Theberg’s car and called the couple inside.

“So I come to give you the good news,” she said.

There was enough vaccine left over for Andre and Susan, who said they almost left the parking lot twice, but stopped to chat with volunteers. They got inside minutes before the doors closed and were among the last few people to get vaccinated.

After getting their shots, Andre and Susan Theberg said it, “feels fantastic,” and that it was a “sigh of relief.”

Before the start of the day, 8% of Mecklenburg County’s population had received enough vaccine to be considered fully protected. That is 88,401 people.

Cox Media Group