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As cases continued to surge, New Yorkers did not line up to see Santa Claus or wait to buy Christmas gifts. Instead, they stood for a few hours on Saturday to be tested for COVID-19.

Residents are very angry while waiting for nasal swabs to travel or because they think they may have the virus.

On Saturday afternoon, a test and vaccination center operating in a city in Times Square waited about three hours.

"I am cold and depressed. We should have more choices in such a big city," said 29-year-old Dumbo graduate student Alessandra Abate, who has been in line for two hours. .

Abate needs a test to visit her family in Italy on Sunday.

"It's almost impossible to find a place on weekends," she said.

A staff member at the scene said that waiting is "the most absurd I have ever seen."

But the worker, who only revealed his name as Cliff, added that there is no vaccine production line.

In the late afternoon, when the people in the line were told that the singles taking the test had their lunch break, their frustration grew.

Lisa Vastola, 34, from Hells Kitchen wants to be tested for possible virus exposure. She said the city should now know how to run these sites smoothly.

"I saw people giving up," she said. "If there are too many queues, people will not be tested before the holidays."

The Lab Worq pop-up tents at 47th St. and 6th Ave. have a shorter line, but a staff member said they will close early because they only have less than 20 test packs left at around 3:45 pm

Danny Lin, 21, will leave on Monday for a holiday in Curaçao. He said he has been to another test site on 34th St.

"I must get it today," he said.

At the CityHealth Urgent Care Center in Kew Gardens, teacher Terri Huckabee said that she has a cold and is waiting to be checked to rule out COVID-19.

"I went to three places yesterday, including this one, and gave up," said Huckabee of Queens Village. "They were full, but the tests ran out, so I went home."

She said she left a place because it was crowded and lacked ventilation, and she felt uncomfortable. "If there is a surge, the city should really strengthen their game because it's not good," she said.

In the CVS next to the clinic, a staff member said that the home test kit is flying out of the house.

"We put three boxes on the shelf this morning and they were sold out by noon," the workers said.

City officials said on Thursday that if the queue time is too long, the test time at the city site will be extended and home test kits will be distributed.

 According to a New York City Health and Hospital spokesperson, on Monday, New York City will also begin distributing test kits and KN95 masks through community organizations.