Massachusetts is preparing to make a big change to how appointments are booked at the state’s seven COVID-19 mass vaccination sites.
Thursday will be the last time that the current system is used. State officials said that more than 40,000 new first-dose appointments and 40,000 second-dose appointments will be posted Thursday morning, but this will be the final time that eligible residents will need to rush to the website to snatch those appointments.
In past weeks, the available appointments have filled quickly and users have reported crashes or extreme wait times in the “digital waiting room.”
Starting Friday, the state’s seven mass vaccination sites will be switched to a new system.
All residents will be able to preregister for vaccinations on a system that state officials say will be built on a platform powered by Google.
Expected to launch mid-morning on Friday, the new system will ask residents to supply their contact information and attest to the various factors considered for eligibility, including age, medical conditions and occupation. Individuals will then be added to a queue and will be contacted when it is their turn.
State officials said individuals will be contacted once to confirm their preregistration and then weekly to confirm whether they want to remain in the queue. Anyone who gets vaccinated outside the state mass vaccination sites will be asked to remove themselves from the preregistration list.
When someone becomes eligible for a vaccine under state guidelines, they will be contacted by the system based on the order in which they preregistered and on dose availability at the nearest mass vaccination site. Officials said that individuals will get one notification on the day before they can sign up and then will get a link good for 24 hours that can be used to book an appointment for the following week.
Anyone who does not utilize their link will be returned to the preregistration queue, officials said.
While the system will launch only for the state’s mass vaccination sites, officials said other vaccination clinics may be added to the system in April.
Officials said the system will allow residents to help someone else get in the queue and the state’s 2-1-1 hotline will continue to assist those who cannot use the internet to access the system.
The new system will be used to connect teachers and school staff with vaccination appointments on four upcoming days which will be designated for educators. Up to 25,000 first doses are expected to be available at mass vaccination sites for them on March 27, April 3, April 10 and April 11.
Massachusetts will receive about 155,000 first doses of the authorized vaccines this week, and the size of weekly shipments are not expected to increase this month. The state redistributes those doses among mass vaccination sites, hospitals, regional health collaboratives, community health centers and local boards of health.
The federal government also distributes about 95,000 doses directly to retail pharmacies and another 19,000 to certain community health centers. Those doses are not accounted for in the state’s weekly shipment and the appointments are not booked through the state system.
Massachusetts vaccination progress:
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