Suffolk County is ramping up its effort to get more shots in the arms of people with new COVID-19 vaccine tents.

The tents are set up outside the Dennison building in Hauppauge. Officials say the field site can handle around 700 shots per day. That's in addition to the 600 the county is already distributing inside the building.

Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott gave News 12 an exclusive look inside the tent and explained how the facility will operate. Pigott says once you are in the chair in front of a vaccinator it goes very quick.

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"We hope to get a lot done here," says Pigott. "This is going to be our new base of operations going forward."

There are 18 immunization pods but more will likely be added as additional doses become available.

Suffolk County Steve Bellone says the new site will give Suffolk's vaccination effort a much-needed boost. So far around 40% of residents have received at least one dose.

"We're still probably half of the way there to getting to that magic number where we can say we have herd immunity, that we are putting this virus behind us," says Bellone. "So there's a lot more work to be done."

Pigott says the tents will likely be in place until demand for the vaccine starts to diminish.

Appointments are booking up quickly.