Tomorrow, the Knox County Health Department will roll out a new online registration platform so qualifying individuals can join a waitlist for future vaccination opportunities.
Health care workers, first responders and those 70 years and older can sign up on the waitlist beginning Wednesday, February 10, at 8:30 a.m. A full list of qualifying groups (Phase 1a1 and 1a2) can be found on KCHD’s website.
“This waitlist is possible thanks to the hard work of teams in our IT and Health departments,” said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. “We knew a waitlist needed to be a priority and I’m grateful that we had the in-house capacity to get it done.”
“We are thrilled to offer this option for folks in our community,” said Senior Director and Public Health Officer Dr. Martha Buchanan. “A lot of people of expressed interest in getting this vaccine, so we expect the waitlist to have thousands of names on it. We want to be clear that it will take time – and significant vaccine supply – to work our way down the list and get everybody vaccinated.”
More than 52,000 individuals in Knox County are 70 and older, but that figure doesn’t account for the additional eligible individuals who fall into the first two priority groups.
Qualifying individuals will be able to sign up on the waitlist by clicking a pop-up box on KCHD’s COVID-19 webpage.
Individuals will be asked to enter their name and contact information and answer a series of questions. Once completed, their name will be added to KCHD’s vaccine waitlist. Moving forward, as additional vaccine is received, individuals on the waitlist will be contacted for available appointments in the order in which their name appears on the waitlist.
Through this registration system, qualifying individuals will also have the option to add their name to a ‘stand-by list’. This list will be utilized if there are leftover doses at the end of a vaccination event that need to be immediately used. Individuals who are interested should be readily available to come to KCHD or a nearby location to receive their vaccine as soon as they are called.
Those without internet or computer access can add their name to the waitlist by calling KCHD’s Public Information Line (865-215-5555) or 3-1-1 (865-215-4311). KCHD is grateful for the assistance of 3-1-1, which has a larger capacity to receive and process calls than KCHD’s Public Information Line.
Individuals with specific questions about their health and whether or not they should receive the vaccine should call their medical provider.
Knox County continues to roll out vaccine to the community as quickly as supply and resources allow. To date, more than 56,000 vaccinations have been administered in the community. According to state data for the big four metropolitan counties, Knox County is leading when looking at the percent of population who have received just one dose.
More than 265,000 Tennesseans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
