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'We could be doing 50% more' | LouVax site looks thin on cars as wait times decreased

"Our wait times are down," Dr. Hartlage said as cars efficiently moved through Broadbent Arena site.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — WHAS11 got a message from a person who was at the LouVax site this week and said there was a chunk of time where no cars were coming through. To find out why that happened when we've got critical vaccine on the line, we reached out to the organizers for answers.

There's a couple reasons that run across your mind when you hear there was no one there. Were people skipping appointments? Did the supply run out? Were there not enough volunteers? 

Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, Associate Medical Director for Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness, said the real answer is they're too efficient and under supplied.

"Our wait times are down," Dr. Hartlage said as cars efficiently moved through Broadbent arena behind her. "The amount of time folks are spending prior to getting through the line and into the building are down. Part of that is the longer we do this, the better we get. Keep doing it 50,000 times and eventually you improve your processes a little bit."

RELATED: Phase 1C: COVID-19 vaccine appointments for Louisville residents 60+ available starting March 1

Patients are also able to fill out paperwork online before they arrive, speeding up the process even more. They're giving out 2000 vaccines a day, and that's where they're currently maxed out with the current supply LouVax is given.

"Altogether, we could be doing 50 percent more than were doing and maybe more than that," Dr. Hartlage said. "As soon as that capacity arrives, we are ready to deploy that here at LouVax and with our partners as well."

We also asked Dr. Hartlage if it's tough to look around at the arena and see how much more they could be doing, but they just aren't able to because of supply.

"Yeah, and I think our healthcare partners feel the same way," Dr. Hartlage said. "We've definitely expressed all those things to our cohorts at the state. They know were ready and willing just as soon as they have supply to give, they'll be sending more to us."

So now, it's a waiting game until the supply in the state can increase. Supply distribution does continue to go up in Kentucky and Indiana, and Dr. Hartlage believes with the Johnson & Johnson shot approval, vaccine supply will increase significantly here soon.

Contact reporter Hayley Minogue at hminogue@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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