SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and WellMed have each received 9,000 more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Metro Health, which received a shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, will begin booking appointments Friday for the Alamodome next week.
To avoid the overwhelming rush of residents seeking appointments that occurred with the first series of Alamodome appointments, the City of San Antonio will make appointments available on a rolling basis.
Friday’s appointments will be for approximately 2,000 slots on Monday. On Saturday, the city will make available 2,000 slots for Tuesday, and so on. The registration system will continue to reopen as appointments become available due to cancellations.
“With more frequent registration opportunities, we hope to spread out the demand and give eligible residents more chances to book an appointment for the vaccine,” said Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger. “The vaccine continues to be scarce, so please be patient. We expect vaccine supplies to improve over the next several weeks.”
Appointments for the Alamodome can be made by visiting covid19.sanantonio.gov/vaccine. Residents with internet access should use the website to sign up.
People without internet access should call 311 and select option 8 to book an appointment. If you get a busy signal, the means that all operators are taking other calls, and callers should try again.
WellMed received 9,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine for distribution next week. The additional doses were made available by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Beginning on Saturday, Jan. 16 those who qualify to get a vaccine can call the toll-free number, 833-968-1745, to set up an appointment from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m daily, until all appointments are filled.
You must schedule an appointment to get the vaccine as walk-ins will not be accepted.
When you call, you may have trouble getting through as the phone lines have been inundated with people trying to set up an appointment.
According to WellMed, since Jan. 9 the hotline has received more than 7.9 million calls.
Callers are encouraged to keep calling back and if phone lines are overwhelmed you will hear one of two messages:
- One a cell phone: “The line you are trying to reach is out of service.”
- On a landline: “All circuits are busy. Please try your call later.”
Also, WellMed states that if you are cut off after getting through to the recorded greeting, it means all operators are on calls.
Those who qualify right now to get a vaccine are healthcare workers, anyone age 65 and older, and adults 18 and older with chronic health conditions.
The clinics administering the vaccines are the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center at 517 SW Military Drive and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center at 8353 Culebra Road.
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