5.6 million calls are blocking telephone lines for registering the WellMed COVID vaccine in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO – If you’ve had trouble accessing WellMed locations in southern and western San Antonio this week, you haven’t been alone.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 5.6 million amazing phone calls have been received since the registration opened over the weekend, counselor Adriana Rocha-Garcia told KSAT.

WellMed previously told KSAT that the toll-free number (833-968-1745) was quickly blocked, while community members tried to secure places for vaccinations.

Rocha-Garcia said 4,775 vaccines were given over three days at the Elvira Cisneros Community Center, operated by the WellMed Charitable Foundation on Southwest Military Drive and the Alicia Trevino Lopez One-Stop Center for Seniors on Culebra Road.

A total of 9,000 doses were available at the two facilities, but all slots were filled, according to WellMed officials.

When multiple slots open, city officials ask residents to call the same toll-free number between 8:00 and 20:00 to set up an appointment. Phones will be answered seven days a week for 12 hours. If you fail to pass, city officials say keep trying, because the lines receive hundreds of calls every minute.

The vaccine clinic at Alamodome is also full. San Antonio officials said in a press release last week that registration for the free COVID-19 vaccination was completed in just six minutes and that more than 11,000 people were on the registration site when it opened.

The Alamodome location can provide up to 1,500 vaccines a day. When more vaccines are available, the city will make the announcement through its social channels.

San Antonio now has four mass vaccination sites that can deliver nearly 30,000 vaccinations a week, including Alamodome, two WellMed clinics and the University of Wonderland Mall’s mass vaccination clinic. None of them have vaccines available at this time.

“There are more than a million people in Bexar County who are eligible for the vaccine right now,” said Dr. Colleen Bridger. “At two doses per person, it will take us months to administer vaccinations to all residents of Bexar County. The good news is that we are more than equipped to deliver every dose we receive, so the message is sent to state and federal leaders that we need more – much more. ”

In Texas, people in the state’s Phase 1A and Phase 1B categories are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities, anyone over the age of 65, and anyone 18 years of age or older with a chronic condition. Chronic medical conditions include cancer, kidney disease, COPD, heart disease, solid organ transplant recipients, obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes.