RALEIGH, N.C. — If you ride public transportation in the Triangle, you can now walk off the bus and get a vaccine.

Vaccinations are available to the public without appointment every Friday afternoon through September 24 from 1-6 p.m.

You can choose from J&J, Moderna or Pfizer vaccines

William Winters chose to vaccinate himself to protect his son and his daughter

Winters is the first person to receive the vaccine on the first day the vaccine was offered

Less than 100 yards away from the downtown bus stop across the street from Moore Square is a tent where you can get a vaccination every Friday for the next five weeks.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 61% of the population in Wake County is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and Wake County Health and Human Services is trying to get that number up. 

As part of that effort, the WCHHS has made vaccines available at the GoRaleigh bus station with no appointment necessary.

It’s the reason why William Winters is now vaccinated. 

On the first day the public could receive vaccines he was the first person to sit in a chair underneath the VaccinateWake tent. 

He said he chose to inoculate himself against the coronavirus to protect his children because of advice from his own father.

“My dad always said, 'I have kids so I better get the shot.' I was hesitant to take it,” Winters said.

Charlene Blount is a certified medical assistant who vaccinated him.

“The purpose of coming out here is we are a service to the community. We come out into the community because sometimes people can’t get to us,” Blount said.

Winters chose the one-shot dose of Johnson & Johnson. It’s more convenient for people like him who ride the bus regularly or who don’t have their own set of wheels.

Many people, who are unvaccinated, ride into the downtown GoRaleigh bus station every day.

County health officials said it’s why they rolled in a bus full of vaccines.

“It makes me feel good because the more that we can get vaccinated the more that we can come out of this shutdown — this pandemic that we are in,” Blount said.

It's a shot of hope against the delta variant at a crossroads of life.

“We will do whatever it takes to get them vaccinated,” Blount said.

After the one and done injection was over Winters talked about how happy it made him feel.

“I feel safe. I feel protected,” he said.

For people who lack their own transportation, the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are less convenient.

“I don’t want my kids to catch nothing like this. So I saw my opportunity. I came down and did this for my kids. So if I’m safe, they're safe,” Winters said.

It's a feeling Winters said he couldn’t wait to share when he arrived home to his daughter and son.

Vaccines will be available at GoRaleigh Station from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the following dates: August 27, September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24.