LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — Gladys Bratton sees the COVID-19 vaccine as the only way her whole family can be under one roof again.
"We'd be able to get out of the house and not be fearful that we're going to get sick," Bratton said.
The Lee's Summit resident logged onto the Jackson County Health Department's website Friday to fill out a survey that helps residents know when they're eligible to receive a vaccine. But Bratton said it was down over the holiday weekend.
"They know they will have a large group of people at one time trying to get on, so they need to be prepared for that," Bratton said.
She tried calling the county and state health departments' COVID-19 hotline numbers to no avail, so 41 Action News started making calls.
Ray Dlugolecki, assistant director of the Jackson County Health Department, said that in the past three weeks more than 91,000 people have let the department know they want the shot.
"To be completely honest, that exceeded our expectations," Dlugolecki said. "As far as the number of individuals who signed up and signed up in a rapid fashion."
Until last week, the health department was using servers that couldn't handle the amount of traffic seen in recent days. The servers were upgraded over the weekend, and now an unlimited amount of users can access the website, a spokesperson said.
"That was not in response to any sort of crash or anything like that," Dlugolecki said. "This was something that was 100% planned, and it will just really ensure that we're successful as we move forward."
Bratton on Tuesday afternoon joined the growing number of residents who want the COVID-19 vaccine when she was able to complete the survey for her and her husband.
More information about Jackson County's COVID-19 Vaccine Survey Tool can be found on the health department's website.
