40,000 COVID Vaccine Appointments Booked Fast As Mass. Teachers Become Eligible
BOSTON (CBS) – Appointments for COVID vaccines at the state's seven mass vaccination sites booked up fast once again Thursday morning, but that unpopular signup system is about to change.
More than 40,000 new first dose appointments were made available at the mass vaccination sites and they were gone by 11:30 a.m., according to the state.
This was the last day Massachusetts dumped thousands of appointments all at once on Thursday mornings.
A new preregistration system will go live Friday at Mass.Gov/CovidVaccine to replace the current platform, which has frustrated many users.
The new system works only for appointments at the state's seven mass vaccination sites. It allows people to sign up when eligible, then sends a message with an appointment time and place, and people have 24 hours to decide whether to accept it.
Since Massachusetts has partnered with Google for the preregistration program, Governor Charlie Baker said he's confident the site won't crash, as it has in the past.
Teachers become eligible to sign up at all 170 vaccination sites in Massachusetts Thursday, adding about 400,000 more people to the pool of those who qualify.
Baker announced Wednesday there will be four designated days set aside for educators to get their shots at mass vaccination sites on March 27th, April 3rd, 10th, and 11th.
Visit Mass.Gov/CovidVaccine to find out when you're eligible and to book an appointment or call the hotline at 211.
