Cottage Grove (KMTR) – Good intentions backfired, causing a flu shot fiasco in Cottage Grove Monday. Now, city manager is now firing back at Lane County Public Health.
Tuesday, Cottage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers sent a letter defending the actions of city staffers at Monday's flu shot clinic.
Meyers said about 400 people showed up to get the vaccine at the Cottage Grove Community Center, while there were only doses available.
The people first in line were four hours early. Rather than having them wait, and in an effort to keep business flowing, Meyers says staffers set up a waiting area and handed out numbered tickets. But the county public health officials running the clinic didn't honor those tickets. In the end, dozens of early arrivers were turned away, including Becky White.
“I came here at noon, they gave us a ticket and told us we could come back at 4:00 and that we were able to get shots with our tickets,” White said. “And what happened? We came back just now and we're told the tickets are not good, we can't use them. So we won't get shots.”
A shot clinic staffer from Lane County Public Health told NewsSource 16 Monday that the county was never informed of the ticket system, so it wasn't honored.
In his letter, City Manager Meyers disputed that, writing, “City staff and volunteers did the right thing. But because it was not what the lane county public health officials wanted to do, our assistance was refused. Rather than try something that has been proven to work in crowded situations, county officials simply refused to consider it, then labeled it "a bad idea."
