D.C. will start offering walk-up vaccination sites beginning on Saturday, May 1.

Esteban Felix / AP Photo

As recently as last week, getting a vaccine appointment in D.C. was like trying to win in the Hunger Games, according to many of the tens of thousands of residents who attempted to use the sluggish website to secure one of the limited vaccine slots available.

But not on Wednesday, when D.C. rolled out a new vaccine pre-registration system. The website performed well on the first morning it was available: by 1p.m., 52,956 people had successfully registered using the portal.

“Hunger Games is out, new registration system is in,” wrote Council member Charles Allen on Twitter.

Now, residents and people who work in D.C. can pre-register at any time using the website or hotline, rather than waiting for the next batch of vaccine appointments to be released. For the time being, officials ask that only people who are in currently eligible categories use the preregistration system, so as not to overwhelm it. Those eligible include some essential workers, people with underlying medical conditions, and those 65 and older.

On earlier registration days, social media was filled with screenshots of the malfunctioning portal. Today, many people reported a smooth experience.

Pre-registered people will start getting invitations to book appointments starting on Friday. They will then have 48 hours to book. After that, new appointments will be offered Thursday and Sunday mornings by 10:00 a.m., with slots also released Tuesday mornings if any are left unfilled.

People who are eligible must pre-register by 11:59 pm the night before appointments are released to be eligible for an appointment.

Invitations will go out based on a “randomized selection process,” though in fact it’s not entirely random — appointments will be divvied up as follows:

  • 20% will go to D.C. residents in priority zip codes who are 65 and older
  • 20% will go to D.C. residents in any zip code who are 65 and older
  • 20% will go to D.C. residents in priority zip codes who are 18-64 with a qualifying medical condition
  • 20% will go to D.C. residents in any zip code who are18-64 with a qualifying medical condition
  • 10% will go to D.C. residents in priority zip codes who are members of an eligible workforce who are 18 and older
  • 10% will go to D.C. members of an eligible workforce who are 18 and older, regardless of home address

Some people using the portal were confused by one of the questions in the system, asking which of the three available vaccines they would prefer to receive.

Officials later clarified that stating a preference for one vaccine does not affect when they will receive an appointment. Health experts and city officials are urging people to take whichever vaccine is available.

There was one problem reported with the pre-registration site: one category of essential workers who are currently eligible for vaccination were omitted from the site. In a Wednesday call between D.C. councilmembers, the mayor’s office, and DC Health officials, Councilmember Christina Henderson pointed out that commercial and residential property maintenance and environmental service employees were not listed in a drop-down menu on the site, despite being eligible for the vaccine in the current Phase 1c Tier 1.

DC Health officials said they were aware of the problem and working to fix it.

The mood of the weekly call was largely congratulatory, however, compared to calls in the past two weeks, after multiple website failures.

This week, D.C. is receiving 24,760 doses of vaccine. Of those, 14,680 are set aside for appointments previously made through the vaccination portal; 7,210 doses are for hospitals and health centers; and 2,870 doses are for other vaccination initiatives.

Colleen Grablick contributed to this story.

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