ESTERO, Fla. – Senior citizens spent a chilly night outside in a line that stretched for blocks as they waited to get into a park and rec center where COVID-19 vaccinations were offered on a first-come, first-served basis Monday. 
At the front of the line were Marc and Mary Ravis of nearby Cape Coral. They arrived around 7 p.m. Sunday, two hours after the immunization clinic was announced by the Lee County Health Department. 
"I really need this vaccine," Mary Ravis said. She and her husband, 69 and 72 years old, respectively, have underlying health conditions. "We figured it would fill up fast." 
Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order that ignored Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for COVID-19 vaccine priority and allowed people 65 and older to jump ahead of essential workers, even as many health care employees in Florida wait for their shot. 
“We are not going to put young healthy workers ahead of our elderly,” said DeSantis, whose state has seen more than 21,000 deaths from the virus.
The Ravises were among the lucky ones in the southwest Florida village. By noon – two hours before the clinic was scheduled to begin vaccinations – the county Health Department tweeted the site had reached capacity. Only those already in line could be accommodated.
Tuesday, lines at the county's three first-come, first-served vaccination sites reached full capacity by 7 a.m. The sheriff's office had to send out a traffic alert for the sites because of crowding.
Similar scenes of waiting, confusion and frustration played out across the state Monday, as medical systems and counties scrambled to create distribution systems for groups they hadn't expected to vaccinate for at least a week or two. 

The covid-19 vaccine for seniors is a good thing, but making many seniors wait long hours in cold weather is an inhumane thing to do.