About 130 people were expected to get COVID-19 vaccination shots at the Kane County Mass Vaccination Hub at 501 North Randall Road in Batavia Saturday.
Liisa Lawrence is one the 160 members of Kane County's Medical Reserve
Core which has assisted in providing more than 200,000 COVID vaccines in all.
"We have a lot of stories," Lawrence said via Zoom. "There's been a lot of heartbreak, there's been a lot of tears. I know that early on when things were very busy I'd hear stories from people and I'd just go home and have a good cry. If people come in now for a first dose we don't judge in any way of course, we just welcome them to the clinic, say we're glad that they're here."
Volunteer Joyce Hutchinson said she and others have to remember these are trying times for almost everyone.
"Part of the problem is the pandemic has gone on for so long and there are so many other problems, that people are just kind of tired of all this," Hutching said. "So you just have to sit back and be patient with them and work with them, so if they're overly excited you just have to make them more comfortable as they're going through the process here."
Aaron Stevens, Emergency Response Supervisor and Medical Reserve Corp Director with the Kane County Health Department, was also among those on hand on yet another busy weekend.
"We saw our largest surge last month when everyone was due for their boosters, we had upwards of 1,500 coming in for a clinic, Stevens said. "At the height, when we opened we were up to 3,600 a day. We've had up to 35 volunteer nurses administering vaccine at any given time so we've had an incredible response from the Medical Reserve Corps here in Kane County. These are skilled, trained volunteers who have been willing to come out."
And Stevens says that sometimes the enthusiasm can, understandably, wane over time, "but when I see the spirit of the people who want to be here...it creates an environment that you just want to be in because people just want to be as generous and help do what they can."
Kane County estimates that all the hours that have been donated by the volunteers equate to $240,000 in savings for the county.