Some CVS locations in New Jersey began making appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday morning, and the slots for the appointments were filled within hours.
News 12 New Jersey spoke to a couple in Somerset County who even lost their lock while trying to figure out the system. Frank Katusa, of Franklin Township, says he has been trying for weeks to get appointments for him and his wife.
“We signed up with Robert Wood Johnson, we signed up with Meridian Health, we signed up in Atlantic City,” Katusa says.
He says he was hopeful when CVS started making appointments. He was able to get it, but encountered a problem when he wanted to book his wife’s appointment.
‘Within maybe ten minutes I’m informed that I have an appointment for her … so I clicked for the second appointment and it’s told me’ We have no openings’ – vaccines for the second appointment other area. So, I tried something very remote, which was less populated, Villas, New Jersey, ”says Katusa.
But he says no appointments were available when he went to discuss the second dose in Cape May County. And he says that after 30 minutes of trying to find another CVS place in the state, the system expired and that the entire appointment – including the first dose – was canceled.
“It’s like they’re raising your hopes and then it’s like, no no, so you start over and you try every zip code, every city that’s on the list,” he says.
According to CVS, 25,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent to New Jersey, meaning 25,000 appointments are scheduled for Thursday morning. The shots will be fired from Friday morning. More appointments will be made available in the future.
“Since the vaccine shipments are received by the store, then the next appointment appointment or appointment appointment is available on the website,” says Christina Cacchili of the CVS COVID task force. “I would just say check back often and every week we receive an extra award so we can make more appointments.”
Rite Aid will also begin administering vaccines in New Jersey. Representatives of the pharmacy say that their scheduling site is not yet active.