ATLANTA — Fulton County says its vaccine appointments for this week are full, as the state's expansion of eligibility under Phase 1A of its distribution plan has opened up a flood of demand.
The county's board of health tweeted late Monday night that, "We appreciate all of our residents reaching out and being patient regarding COVID-19 vaccination appointments."
The county has an email alerts list residents can sign up for here.
It's not clear when appointments for next week, and subsequent weeks, will become available.
Public health district offices were overwhelmed in many respects on Monday as the state expanded to Phase 1A, which has made adults 65 and over as well as first responders and law enforcement eligible to receive a vaccine.
Phone lines were jammed and websites crashed for a number of districts, as people sought vaccine appointments.
Fulton County's appointment site listed this message:
Sorry, our appointment times for this week are currently full. Please check back later. Thank you for your patience!
Due to extremely high call and email volume it may take us longer to respond to specific questions. We ask that you view our COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS link at the top of the page, or enter your email address at the bottom of this page to receive an update when more times become available.
In counties around Atlanta, demand is expected to be higher for the vaccine.
When Gov. Brian Kemp announced the expansion to Phase 1A, he cited softer demand among rural healthcare workers in particular, hoping wider eligibility would lead to doses of the vaccine that had been sitting in freezers would be put to use.
In Atlanta, however, he said there were still hundreds of healthcare workers, who were first eligible under the distribution plan, on the waiting list.