DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — For the past 11 days, no one has been able to book a vaccine appointment through the DeKalb County Board of Health website.
"We know people want the vaccine and we are happy there is a high demand for the vaccine," said DeKalb Board of Health spokesperson Eric Nickens.
But that high demand was so overwhelming that when the county first opened appointments on January 8 and 9, that they had more than 20,000 people vying for 8,200 slots.
So for 11 days, they’ve put a pause on new appointment registrations -- which remains in place.
"When we put a pause on registrations, individuals that did click the link were met with a form saying the form wouldn't accept any more responses," Nickens said.
He said he understands that can be frustrating, but the pause gave them a chance to go through the backlog of people who had registered but had not booked an appointment.
The pause also gave then an opportunity to cancel appointments made by people who did not register at all but were trying to use a link they had obtained from someone else.
"So, this past Sunday evening, we went back in the system and canceled those out," Nickens said. "They received an email of why their appointment was canceled."
As of Wednesday, Nickens said that they have been able to contact every person who was part of the backlog and offer them an appointment.
"In most cases, they've either found an appointment elsewhere or already gotten a vaccine," he said.
For those still needing a vaccine, Nickens said they're giving them until the end of the week to decide if they want their spot -- and if they don't, those spots could be up for grabs.
"Those spots, potentially, will be available to the general public next week," Nickens said.
Nickens said that any spots that become available, will be posted on their website after 5 p.m. on Friday.
Rather than logging on to their site throughout the day, he suggests following them on social media to be alerted right away.