Start me up: Crew provides jump starts at Regina’s COVID vaccine drive-through

With thousands of people across the province eager to get their COVID-19 vaccine, the lineups can get quite long at drive-through clinics.

But what happens when a car breaks down in the middle of the line?

Keeping traffic flowing for hundreds of cars can be a challenge, and Kevin Fink — who directs traffic at the Evraz Place clinic in Regina — said mechanical problems can throw a wrench into the situation.

He said that about five to 10 times a day, a vehicle won’t be able to start.

The most common cause is a dead battery.

When that happens, his crews jump on the scene, almost like a pit stop in a Formula 1 race.

“We have a little booster pack … We give them a boost, and off they go again … We look after everybody quite well here,” he recently said with a chuckle.

Fink said it’s understandable that it happens fairly frequently, considering the waits can sometimes last hours.

“People are listening to the radio with their cars off or having their phones plugged in,” he said.

When it’s not something the crew members can fix with a quick boost, they have to call in a tow truck to get the vehicle out of the lineup and keep things moving.

However, there are instances where they have to improvise and figure out the right solution.

“We had one (guy), the remote on his (key) fob died. So we had to push him out of the lineup,” Fink recalled. “He was five rows in, so we had to move a few guys around and get him pushed off to the side.

“Once he got somebody to come down with a battery for his remote, he changed that and off he went.”

Fink compared the situation to a large-scale jigsaw puzzle.

“Especially when they’re deep in the rows, it’s a little difficult to get them out,” he said. “But everybody works with us and it’s been pretty good.”