REGISTRATION INFORMATION ANNOUNCED FOR REGIONAL VACCINATION SUBHUB
CALL CENTER REPORTING THOUSANDS OF CALLS RECEIVED WITHIN MINUTES OF REGISTRATION OPENING
Update @ 11 a.m.: Thousands of calls are flowing in from residents looking to get vaccinated for COVID-19 at the Washington County Expo.
According to the City of Brenham, the phone lines for the Regional Vaccination subHUB received 7,000 calls within the first minute of registration opening at 8 a.m. this (Monday) morning. Over 60,000 calls were received within the first few minutes, leading to many residents getting “busy” signals and being unable to get through.
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.
An announcement will be made when all appointments have been filled.
Original Story @ 6:28 a.m.: Registration begins this (Monday) morning for the Regional Vaccination subHUB at the Washington County Expo.
Registration takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with the COVID-19 vaccination drive-thru running from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
The state has allocated 2,000 vaccines for this subHUB. The subHUB will be open each weekday until vaccines run out.
To register, call 1-800-845-8035 or 979-337-8420. If callers get a "busy" signal when they call, they are asked to hang up and keep trying.
Callers will be asked a series of screening questions before being scheduled for a vaccine time slot. Priority will be given to health care workers, residents 65 and older, and individuals who are at high risk of contracting the coronavirus or have one or more chronic health conditions. No walk-ins will be accepted.
The subHUB is allotted a certain number of vaccines; therefore, registration will end when supply is depleted.
Residents with access to the Internet and a printer can print and fill out the registration forms prior to arrival at the Expo. Those without access will complete the forms upon arriving for their appointment.
Registration forms can be viewed, downloaded and printed at www.localevent.info. Those looking to register can scroll to the middle of the page and click the Vaccination Forms button, where a page will list the Consent Forms and Vaccination Fact Sheet. From there, forms can be completed and printed prior to appointment.
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.
To see a list of vaccine hub providers across the state, go online to www.dshs.state.tx.us.
I agree that a phone call system is not the proper way to schedule . Some people received 2 call backs to schedule while others never got a call back of any kind. This is very hard on the older folks in our counties to understand .
I am really irked now, I just found out some friends are coming from Weimar to get their shots (they called us for directions to the Expo) and we live in Washington County and cannot even get a shot. Someone really dropped the ball on the roll out!!!! Please do this by Washington County only and not combine all the counties together at this rate we will never get vaccinated. By the way I am still waiting for the return call.
My husband and I called over 1,200 times between 8am and 1:50 when I was finally able to get through. I knew it would take a while with everyone calling and constantly re-dialing.
Yes, we were some of the “lucky” people to get through. However, persistence prevailed in the end!
I would like to say Thank You to all who made this event happen, from Senator Kolkhorst, to the people manning the phone lines, and to each and every person working out at the Fairgrounds!
I too called 50+ times in the first 10 minutes of the site being open, it just became a game. Later that day I did get through to a recording that said the slots were full and I would receive a call back in 24 hours. Needless to say it has been 36 hours and counting. There has to be a better way of handling this. People should be allowed to sign up on line and let the data sort it out.
The number of phone calls doesn’t count for data because if 100 people call trying to get an appointment had to call a 1000 times and still didn’t get an appointment that number of phone calls add up fast. When I started calling the message I heard was this number is not accepting calls at this time, please try again. 30 minutes later I tried again and all it would do is ring. I tried till 1:00 to get through with no luck. I understand that there is a limited supply, but to me it would make sense to do 1 county at a time. The more people in one area that are vaccinated would seem to help getting things under control faster than only treating a small number over more areas. That is just my opinion. I guess I will just chance my luck for a while longer.
7000 in the first minute!; 60,000 in the first few minutes!!!!!…..that should show our region is just as important as Houston. We need more than 2000 vaccines; if they put 6 counties together, they need to plan for large numbers, not just a small percentage. And by the way, we tried calling over 900 times in two hours and constant busy signal…….I am assuming with such a large call volume, my husband and I will not “win” the Covid vaccine lottery.
Lumping 6 counties together was bound to make this a disaster……
Definitely agree!
This registration procedure is very inefficient. I’m guessing only one telephone line for hundreds of people trying to call.
Very poor phone system. I too have call over 100 times. Agree with your comments.
Over 60 attempts to call in since 8am and busy signal for 2 hours. The article says no walk-ins will be accepted. This is ridiculous and very frustrating!!! For anyone who think socialized medicine is the answer, please notice this is what happens when the government is in charge of health care. They will ration it and decide who is “worthy” of living.
This is a ridiculous way to register. We are over 800 calls. Some counties use a website to register. Applicants can be prioritized and you know you are on a list. We are in our mid-70`s with no idea when we may get a vaccine.
They must be overwhelmed. Over 400 attempts in first hour and all busy signals.
Evidently, Faith Mission was not the correct choice for handling this task. For 45 minutes, I placed 600 calls on two phones and never got thru. Fifteen times it rang, then went to busy signal again. In a community of 35% over 65, an allotment of 2,000, is ridiculous. The vaccine roll out for this nation was a failure in every respect. I personally have knowledge of office workers well under age 40, no health issues, working in large healthcare system in Houston, received Covid vaccine a month ago. I have faith that as soon as real leadership is restored to this nation, this disaster of a vaccine rollout will be corrected, but only if. The state is left out of the process.
We tried over 1000 times to call got it to ring twice with no answer it rang and rang! Very disappointing..
Faith Mission should not be involved.
A total disaster today ???