More than 49,000 people managed to access Harris County’s new COVID-19 vaccination waiting list Tuesday, despite technical issues that reduced access to some of the county’s website.
Judge Lina Hidalgo, judge of Harris, said that 49,287 people could enter from 4:30 p.m.
Health officials said there was an “overwhelming amount of people” trying to use the site at ReadyHarris.org.
‘It’s down. It’s down. We have had it crashed several times, “said Martha Marquez, a Harris County Public Health spokeswoman, earlier Tuesday. “I know, as we speak, they’re working on it.”
The site was launched Tuesday afternoon, but quickly got into trouble. The page describing the new application is available, but when users sign up for the waiting list, some ‘The site is maintained“Message. A telephone line for the program, (832) 927-8787, is also available. It often gives a busy tone when switched.
The waiting list, a new approach announced Monday, aims to ease the burden on residents by having them enroll once for the vaccine, instead of signing up every time the agency is available for new appointments . Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said access to the vaccine did not depend on computer skills.
The system is supposed to give preference to people, depending on what phase of the state distribution plan they fall into and their age. This will make the pool random and select individuals for the appointment windows. Those people have 48 hours to claim their place.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience,” the health agency wrote on Twitter.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.