AUSTIN, Texas — Even though vaccine eligibility was extended to all Texans 16 years old or older on March 29, Austin Public Health (APH) is only offering appointments to those in groups 1A, 1B and 1C, along with educators and certified child care providers.
APH is currently releasing COVID-19 vaccines on Monday and Thursday nights, often providing updates on its Twitter account about how many people are in the waiting room once appointments are dropped.
On Thursday, about an hour after new appointments were live, APH said 4,000 appointments were left with zero people in the waiting room. At the end of the scheduling window, APH said it still had 258,000 registered accounts eligible and that it would be conducting outreach to help fill these appointments.
KVUE reached out with a few questions:
Why didn't APH open [Thursday night's] registration process to all pre-registered patients 16+?
"APH is continuing to prioritize older adults and others who may be at increased risk for severe disease. However, only having the Moderna vaccine to administer, all individuals must be 18 years or older to receive a vaccine from APH. Pfizer is the vaccine that allows for 16 years old or older, which we have not been allocated."
Because so many doses may go unclaimed (depending on the amount at the end of the night), what happens to them? Do they simply go back into the queue for the next time appointments open?
"That is correct. Almost all unclaimed appointments from the Thursday release were for appointments on Tuesday (April 6). Those appointments will be available during the upcoming Monday release."
Does APH run the risk of seeing doses spoil if appointments aren't claimed by the end of the night?
"The number of appointments scheduled for a day is what drives the operations and how the teams administering doses works. No doses are spoiled as we only thaw and draw doses correlating to the number of appointments for that day. Additionally, the doses are very closely controlled and monitored throughout the day to ensure that we are not drawing unnecessary doses as the day winds down."
How exactly does the pre-registration process for APH work?
"Currently, anyone can pre-register with APH by signing up at covid19.austintexas.gov. They are asked a series of questions that determines if they fall into the 1A/1B/1C categories, are a childcare provider or teacher, or part of the general population that doesn't fit any of that criteria. If they are part of the general population, they are currently not able to schedule an appointment."
How long does it typically take for someone to go from pre-registered to registered so they're able to make an appointment?
"If their account is deemed eligible by the system based on their answers, it is instantaneous."
Do you have an updated number of how many people are pre-registered with APH for vaccines?
"There are currently 454,363 registered for the vaccine in our system, and 250,622 who are eligible but have not scheduled a first dose yet. However, it is important to note that we believe there are a number of individuals in that 250,000 number who have been able to receive a vaccine from a different provider. We recently updated our system to allow individuals to report if they have received a first or second dose from a different provider and should have an updated number soon."
How does APH determine who to open the portal up to on a given night?
"APH has never opened the scheduling system to the general population yet. Previous releases have followed DSHS guidance of the current phase groups that are eligible or have seen prioritization of the DSHS groups and eligibility after the March 29 eligibility change."
Do you typically see a big drop in appointment seekers between Monday and Thursday?
"Historically, appointments have been getting filled for the week with Monday and Thursday releases, it is the Tuesday appointments for the following week that have been not getting filled with the Thursday release. Those appointments are filled with the Monday release though."
To learn more about registering for your vaccine with APH, click here.
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