KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Once the Miami County Health Department opened its phone line to schedule COVID-19 vaccinations in Phase 2, thousands of people tried to make an appointment. However, the system quickly overloaded.
Last week, the department announced it would move into Phase 2 of its vaccine distribution process.
The department had 440 slots available.
"I just kept trying and wasn't getting through," Lila Carter, a Miami County resident, said. "I kept getting the same message."
Many people like Carter said the phone number the health department initially gave out wasn't working.
People called multiple times Monday morning. Carter's daughter tried to help her mother get through on the line.
"She said she called 563 times," Carter said. "She got through 50 times, and they sent her to a voicemail box that was full so she never got to talk to an individual."
By late morning, the health department said that phone line was overloaded and instructed people to call their main line instead.
All 440 spots were quickly filled.
Carter said the department could have better planned for this.
"If it's overwhelming the system, we need to fix the system," Carter said.
The health department declined an interview with 41 Action News. However, since Monday morning, it changed the automated recording someone hears when calling the main line.
The recording states that once KDHE allots additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Miami County, appointment times will be available, and a notification will be sent out on how to schedule an appointment.
People are encouraged to sign up for health department alerts on its website to find out when more vaccines are available. They are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Miami County and the state still are in Phase 2.
Under Phase 2, people older than 65 years old are eligible to be vaccinated. About 6,000 people in Miami County, or 17% of the population, are in this age group.
"We've not seen our grandchildren since October, probably, when it got too cold to visit outside," Carter said, "and so as soon as it meant they'd have to come in the house, we've not had any visits and that's hard."
Miami County was not the first Kansas county to quickly run out of doses once the state moved into Phase 2.
Johnson County also announced it would move into Phase 2 of its vaccine distribution process.
The county said Monday it began contacting people who completed its vaccine interest survey. Now, the county says 7,584 slots have been booked for this week.
Saline and Douglas counties ran out of slots in roughly 30 minutes.
*****UPDATE: ALL 440 vaccine appointment slots have been filled *****
Due to the sheer volume of calls received to...Posted by Miami County Health Department on Monday, January 25, 2021
Doses are distributed to Kansas counties based on availability, population, number of people included in phases, administration sites available and storage capabilities, among other criteria.
