From the mayor’s office:
Today Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health, led by Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt announced that starting Thursday, February 18, individuals working in four categories will be eligible to book vaccination appointments through vaccinate.dc.gov or by calling the district’s coronavirus call center: persons who work in a grocery store environment, health and human services and social services workers, persons who work in production and persons who work in food containers (e.g. persons who work at Food & Friends and other similar facilities).
In addition, vaccination appointments will become available in the future on a varying weekly schedule, with appointments becoming available one week at 6:00 pm on Thursday and Friday, and the following week at 9:00 am on Thursday and Friday.
Tomorrow on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m., approximately 2,450 appointments will be made available to residents of DC living in priority zip codes and Be 65 years of age or older and / or be a member of an eligible staff group. This means, for example, that a supermarket employee who lives in a priority zip code can book an appointment regardless of the location of the supermarket in which he works.
The priority ZIP codes target wards 5, 7 and 8 and include: 20422, 20011, 20017, 20018, 20002, 20001, 20019, 20020, 20032, 20593. Priority ZIP codes include areas of the city where residents are disproportionately affected by COVID- 19, including number of cases and death rate. Wards 5, 7, and 8 are prioritized because they have the lowest percentages of residents aged 65 and older who received at least one dose of the vaccine.
On Friday, February 19 at 6:00 PM, DC Health will make approximately 2,450 additional appointments available to all District residents aged 65 and older and / or individuals who are members of an eligible personnel group.
Grocery store employees include individuals who work in larger supermarket chains and superstores, as well as smaller establishments that sell food, such as convenience stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas, and delis.
At the moment, the portal is only accessible to people aged 18 and over.
Beginning this week, the following populations are now eligible for the vaccine in Washington, DC: health care workers; members of the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services department; residents of long-term and medium care facilities and residents of communal living facilities / group homes; DC residents aged 65 and over; persons who are homeless; members of the Metropolitan Police Department; Continuity of district government personnel; Corrections department employees and residents; teachers and staff who personally work or will work in a traditional or public charter school; childcare workers and teachers and staff in independent schools in DC; persons who work in a grocery store environment; health and human services and social service providers; persons working in production; and individuals who work in food packaging.
On Thursday evenings and all Friday, more than 200 call-takers are available to assist residents in making appointments over the phone. Last week, DC Health updated the booking process to set aside a special inventory of appointments for the call center to ensure that more residents who can only make an appointment by telephone can do so successfully; this week that process will continue. On days when the appointments open at 6 PM, the call center remains open until 8 PM. If not all available appointments are booked on Thursday evening, eligible persons with priority zip codes can book appointments on Friday during the day. “