BOSTON (State House News Service) — The roughly 50,000 mass vaccination site appointments that became available Thursday morning were mostly filled by 9:30 a.m. and the state advised people who were unable to secure themselves a shot over the last two weeks to try again next Thursday.
The announcemen tfrom the state's Twitter account that, "Due to a severely limited vaccine supply and a large population of individuals eligible to get a vaccine, this week's 50,000 appointments at mass vaccination sites across the Commonwealth are nearly all filled" came 90 minutes before Gov. Charlie Baker is due to testify before lawmakers who are ready to grill him about the vaccine rollout.
The state recommended that the seniors and people with multiple health complications who became eligible for the vaccine last week but have not been able to secure an appointment try again next week.
"[I]t may take several attempts over the course of a few weeks to get an open slot," the state tweeted.
Though this week's release of thousands of vaccine appointments for eligible residents did not appear nearly as chaotic as last week's fiasco and the Baker administration had made changes to the website and scheduling system like adding a virtual waiting room, some vaccine hunters reported estimated wait times of days.
"Since logging in — and getting the 7 hour wait time — the timer has varied like some sort of wild accordion, going down to 13 minutes then back up to 232 minutes then down to 30 minutes. MA *must* do better for our people," Sen. Jo Comerford tweeted Thursday morning after posting a screenshot of what she said her constituents were facing when trying to get a vaccine appointment.
Comerford will co-chair an oversight hearing of the Joint Committee on Covid-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management beginning at 11 a.m. Baker is expected to be the first person to testify.
The governor is scheduled to appear before the committee for one hour and then has a 1 p.m. event in Salem to make an announcement about the state's economic reopening. Sen. Becca Rausch, who is not on the COVID-19 committee but has been critical of the governor's approach, suggested lawmakers could want more time with Baker in light of Thursday morning's frustration.
"Mr. Governor, I believe you may be late to your 1pm appearance," she tweeted.
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service
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