ALL COVID-19 VACCINE SLOTS FULL AT WASHINGTON CO. EXPO
OVER 600,000 CALLS RECEIVED AT CALL CENTER WITHIN HOURS OF REGISTRATION OPENING
Update @ 6 a.m. Tuesday: After one day of registration, all 2,000 appointment slots for COVID-19 vaccines at the Washington County Expo have been filled.
The Washington County Office of Emergency Management announced Monday afternoon that all slots for this batch of vaccines at the Regional Vaccination subHUB are full. The subHUB is set to begin vaccinating residents today (Tuesday) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will be open each weekday until vaccines run out.
Emergency management officials say the phone lines for the subHUB received over 600,000 calls within the first few hours of registration opening at 8 a.m. Monday morning, including 7,000 calls within the first minute and 60,000 calls within the first few minutes.
The call center will now have a message stating appointments are filled, and will be disconnected within the next few days.
Officials remind the public that those without a scheduled appointment or designated time slot for the vaccine should not come to the Expo. Those with appointments may or may not receive a confirmation email, but are told to arrive at the time they were assigned.
For people who were told they would receive a return call within 24 hours, the callback will be attempted three times. After three attempts and no answer, they will be removed from the list. Callbacks are still being made at this time.
Those who have appointments can print and complete their registration forms prior to their arrival at the Expo. Registration and consent forms can be found at www.localevent.info. Those without access to a printer can pick up forms at the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library.
Any Texas resident that qualifies in the current 1A and 1B tier structure was eligible to register to receive a vaccine. The subHUB is being operated by Washington, Austin, Burleson, Fayette, Grimes and Waller counties.
Future updates will be posted on the City of Brenham and Washington County Office of Emergency Management Facebook pages.
Original Story @ 1:30 p.m. Monday: Appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at the Washington County Expo are now full for tomorrow (Tuesday).
According to the City of Brenham, the Regional Vaccination subHUB, which is scheduled to begin vaccinating tomorrow at 6 a.m. and run through 6 p.m., is now filling slots for Wednesday.
The city says the phone lines for the subHUB received over 600,000 calls within the first few hours of registration opening at 8 a.m. this (Monday) morning, including 7,000 calls within the first minute and 60,000 calls within the first few minutes.
The call center will remain open until 7 p.m. today since, according to the city, the first hour was hindered by the phone system/provider not being able to accommodate the volume of calls that occurred the first minute. Registration will continue tomorrow through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The city says the issues with the phone carrier have been resolved, and calls are being answered and screened and appointments being scheduled. Callers who continue to get a “busy” signal are asked to hang up and keep trying.
To register, call 1-800-845-8035 or 979-337-8420.
The state has allocated 2,000 vaccines for this subHUB. The subHUB will be open each weekday until vaccines run out. An announcement will be made when all appointments have been filled.
Any Texas resident that qualifies in the current 1A and 1B tier structure can register to receive a vaccine. The subHUB is being operated by Washington, Austin, Burleson, Fayette, Grimes and Waller counties.
Click here to read more about registration information for the Regional Vaccination subHUB.
The city says, as today is a federal holiday, the shipments from vaccine providers are slower than normal across the country. It says staff from all supporting counties have been working throughout the weekend to “make this process as efficient and effective as possible.” It also says the large number of people interested in receiving the vaccine was “expected and anticipated,” and the subHUB is prepared to begin vaccinations upon their arrival.
For more information, or for registration forms, visit www.localevent.info.
Folks this is what “Medicare For All” will be like!!!!
APM
I called many times yesterday only to get a busy signal, in the afternoon I did get through and was told I would be called back in 24 hours for an appointment, but that never happened. Seems like this whole thing lacked a lot of planning. Why didn’t they offer it to all the people of Washington County first instead of branching out to all the surrounding counties? Take care of the hand that feeds you! I guess for now we will have to continue to wear the masks and wait for another botched up roll out. Poor planning!!
Senior Citizen
A Mass vaccination ( failed attempt) is not socialized medicine. The Texas department which has failed miserably in this public health crisis is extremely underfunded. Public health is not on the current state house elected managements priority list. Has not been for 30 years. Our only hope is that the new leadership sends federal personnel into certain states to get the job done.
When will the next vaccine be available? Does anyone know?
A few hopefully logical questions:
– Was this a one-off event, or will it be continued on a weekly basis as more doses arrive?
– They should have a long list of contact numbers recorded from yesterday’s sign-up exercise. Will they continue to work from that list, or will they throw it away and start over each week?
– I’ve seen a lot of big numbers… 7000 calls, 60,000 calls, 600,000 calls. But how many contacts actually managed to get on “the list”?
– How will they prioritize who gets a vaccine reservation from the list? First in first out?
– We were promised a call back within 24 hours, which is rapidly approaching. Has anyone actually been called back? Does anything meaningful occur on those calls, or is it just a “sorry you didn’t make it” call?
– If calls aren’t going to be returned in the 24 hour period promised, what is the new plan?
Hopefully you can get us some answers. TIA.
I don’t know what others experienced, but it was very frustrating for us. Starting at 8 am, my husband and I tried on two different phone lines to call, only to get a busy signal. We persisted until 10:15, about 600 calls, never to get through. After that, I would come back and make about 10-20 calls after completing different tasks around the house. Around 11:45, I finally got through to an automated voice saying an agent would call this number in 24 hours. I tried to call again and got the same message. Using the other line in the afternoon, got the same message and could go no further. I am not sure what this means, besides stopping us from trying to make an appointment. Both disgusted and frustrated… 2000 vaccines split among 6 counties equals 333.33 inoculations per county. I am sure they do not allocate other counties with only 333.33 vaccines.
When I called after noon 12:30, I was told by a recording someone would call e back within 24 hours. So I will wait and hope they will. The recording did repeat my phone number. Here is hoping!
Patience and optimism were assets today – we kept trying despite busy signals and did get through and make our appointments. So grateful to all who worked to make this happen.
Consider yourself fortunate. As for us, after attempting over 900 calls from two phone numbers, at 11:45 am, finally had call picked up. It was a automated answer saying agent would call this number in 24 hours; this happened for both phone numbers…. after that, could not make calls for appointment on either phone without getting that message …..could go no further….
What disturbs me is the vaccine target keeps moving. we’re being forced to act like lemmings – “sign up here, no sign up here, then sign up over there, etc.”. The problem is his area is getting a very small supply of vaccine’s. I’ve been on the “waiting list” at two pharmacies for weeks plus waiting to be contacted by the Clinic. I knew the subHub would be a disaster, covering 6 counties and only receiving 2000 doses was ill advised and I’m not going to get in that queue – as if I could anyway.
Agree Barry. A complete fiasco ……,,,
Welcome to socialized medicine.