DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Hundreds were turned away from the COVID-19 vaccine distribution site at Daytona Stadium early Monday as it reached capacity for its 1,000 allocated vaccines before it was even scheduled to open, police said.

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Even though the gates of the Daytona Stadium were scheduled to open at 7 a.m. Monday, with distribution beginning at 9 a.m., Daytona Beach Police announced that the gates had been closed as of 6 a.m.

The site would reopen Tuesday morning, officials said.

Monday marked the first day that the county would administer the vaccine to residents 65 and older.

Some seniors had planned to spend Sunday night in Volusia County in hopes of being one of the first in line to get vaccinated. But Spectrum News 13 saw people parking their cars to wait and camp out as early as Sunday afternoon.

“We came with some sandwiches and some water and a blanket,” said Ralph Laskowski said.

Cars and RVs were parked along the sides of LPGA Boulevard.

 “I was surprised. I really didn’t think I’d see people camping out overnight,” said Lorraine Shaw, who drove to Daytona Beach from DeBary.

Police patrolled the area Sunday, moving cars out of the way of traffic and out of no-parking zones. They strongly discouraged people from camping out.

Laskowski said he drove two hours to get there.

“It’s a distance, but this was the only place that we saw close to us that was first come, first served,” Laskowski said.

For many, the vaccine is the ticket to security and seeing family.

“I want to be able to be around my granddaughters, and I haven’t been able to, so that’s really important to me,” Shaw said.

Linda Pingrey was determined to get her coronavirus vaccine, showing up 13 hours before officials were scheduled to start administering it at 9 a.m. Monday. She camped out overnight on the side of the road.

“I had my pillow and my blankets, and I slept... The police officer had to knock on my door to wake me up so I could get in line to get in,” Pingrey said.

She said her efforts were worth it to see her mother in person.

“I have a 93-year-old mother that I want to go see, and I want to not have a chance of getting it,” Pingrey said.

Vicky and Don Shackelford were in a long line of cars.

“It’s aggravating,” Vicky Shackelford said.

“Well, it puts you at risk for another day, and you’re not going to be able to get in tomorrow, either," Don Shackelford added. "It’s going to be a mess here.”

Volusia County government and health administrators knew by 6 a.m. Monday that enough people had already showed up to max out the 1,000 doses they had allocated for the day.

Hundreds were turned away.

Pingrey said getting the actual shot was the easy part.

“It was a breeze. Sleeping on the back seat was hard,” she laughed.