MACON, Ga. — Viewers have reached out to 13WMAZ all week long expressing their frustrations because they couldn’t schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.
On Friday afternoon, the North Central Health District said they were not currently scheduling more appointments until they receive additional shipments of the vaccine.
This week, vaccinations expanded to Phase 1A+, which includes those 65 and older, caregivers, healthcare providers and first responders. The difficulty in scheduling appointments is weighing heavily on some Central Georgians.
A busy dial tone is a familiar sound for 80-year-old Doug Farill.
“I started calling 8 a.m. Monday and I went until about 9:15 a.m.,” he said, “I got a busy signal every time – probably 200 or 300 times.”
Farill says no matter what time of day he called, the phone line was always busy.
“It's very frustrating, you wonder if they are doing anything to improve it,” said Farill.
The North Central Health District says their phone lines have been slammed all week, but they are working on a new plan once more vaccines become available.
“We will be pushing out a secondary number for individuals to call, we will also be improving our staffing numbers next week,” said Michael Hokanson.
He says they will have about 10 more staffers to work the phone lines.
“There are going to be some people who are experiencing a busy signal or drop off because the lines are flooded,” he said.
They are looking at adding an online option, but want to make sure it keeps your information secure and that their staff can handle the callbacks.
For Farill, he just wants an appointment sooner rather than later. He says getting the shot would return some normalcy back to his life.
Before closing the phone lines, the North Central Health District scheduled more than 3,000 appointments. The line will not be available until the district receives more of the vaccine.
They are asking people to monitor their website and social media channels to find out when the lines will reopen. 13WMAZ will also be reporting on the latest as vaccine distribution continues across the area.
The NCHD covers these 13 counties: Baldwin, Crawford, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Macon-Bibb, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington and Wilkinson.
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