A new pop-up vaccination site on the East End is giving senior citizens long-awaited access to the shot.

Thursday was a day residents and staff at Peconic Landing in Greenport have been awaiting - 600 senior citizens from the North Fork all got their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The shot was offered to both Peconic Landing residents and seniors from the surrounding area.

The pop-up vaccination site was set up in partnership with Stony Brook Medicine. Pharmacists, doctors, nurses and EMTs were all on site.

Things hit home at Peconic Landing because the senior community was the site of one of the first COVID-19 clusters on Long Island. They lost 13 residents early on in the pandemic.

It's even more important because the North Fork sits far from the state-run mega sites at Stony Brook University and Jones Beach.

Peconic Landing President/CEO Robert Syron says the vaccine is giving his residents hope for the first time in almost a year.

"Knowing my members now are on their way to safety with the first vaccination of about 50% immunity and the second one three weeks later, it's a godsend," says Syron.

Residents received the Pfizer vaccine, so that means they will be back in three weeks for a second dose.

Joanne Barrett, 78, lives at Peconic Landing and has compromised lungs. She says it was an incredibly welcome day.

"I think for all of us it's a huge morale booster," says Barrett. "It's going to give us the strength to go through what remains ahead."