UMC registration for 5,000 vaccinations were filled up in just 5 minutes – KVIA El Paso

UPDATE: University Medical Center said all of its latest vaccination appointments were booked within five minutes of online registration going live at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. No more spots are currently available.

ORIGINAL REPORT: EL PASO, Texas — University Medical Center said Saturday it has now received 5,000 more doses of coronavirus vaccine that it will distribute soon at a new mega-site at the El Paso County Coliseum.

Registration will open at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at UMCelpaso.org for those in state vaccination categories 1A and 1B, which includes healthcare workers, first-responders, anyone 65 and older or others with certain underlying health conditions.

The website will only accept registrations until all open appointments are scheduled. After that point, the site will close access.

This marked the third batch of 5,000 doses sent to UMC to administer to the public. The last time UMC received a shipment and took appointment registrations online, all slots were filled within 12 minutes.

In addition to UMC getting 5,000 additional doses, a similar shipment was set to arrive at the El Paso health department. Like UMC, the city of El Paso is also providing public vaccine distribution at a mega-site; the city site is near the airport and appointment pre-registration is available at EPCovidVaccine.com or by phoning 21-COVID (212-6843).