DC Launches New COVID Vaccine Website March 8, 2021

A week after its vaccine system faced criticism for technology failings, the District announced a new vaccine registration system aimed at streamlining the appointment process. 

The system launches Wednesday and allows residents that fit in the current vaccine categories to sign-up to receive an appointment. Officials stressed the system will not be first-come, first-serve. The system will select individuals based on a number of factors and randomly invite them to book an appointment. The individual will have 48 hours to do so, or be returned to the waitlist for another invitation. If you fail to register for a vaccine appointment after 3 contacts, you will need to re-register.

While the system opens Wednesday, the District anticipates the first wave of invitations going out on Friday via email, calls, or texts. Also, while they can conceivably register now, the District is asking residents not eligible for vaccine appointments to not register. The system theoretically will allow them to register, but it will not add them to the invite list and will not save them time when their tier is eligible. 

While the District is saying not everyone who wants a vaccine at the moment can be, they do promise that everyone who registers will be vaccinated, even if it takes months. The District has begun allocating its vaccine doses received from the federal government: roughly one third go to hospitals for their patients, 15,000 go to vaccinate.dc.gov, and 3,000 go to "special initiatives". Further, the eligible doses will be divided to 40% for 65+ in age, 40% for those with pre-existing conditions, and 20% to eligible workers.