UMC online vaccine sign-up for 5,000 was filled in just minutes after website crash

UPDATE: All of University Medical Center's latest vaccination appointments were booked within minutes of online registration going live at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

And as happened last week, the website crashed for some as an estimated 45,000 people at once tried to log on to it.

No more spots are currently available until Thursday morning's senior citizen registration. See original report below for further details.

ORIGINAL REPORT: EL PASO, Texas -- University Medical Center of El Paso said it would hold appointment registration Tuesday at 6 p.m. for 5,000 first doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination that were just received.

Registration will open at 6 p.m. at UMCelpaso.org for those in state vaccination categories 1A and 1B, which includes school and childcare personnel, healthcare workers, first-responders, anyone 65 and older or others with certain underlying health conditions.

A UMC spokesman said it's anticipated, similarly to past registration events, that all 5,000 vaccination appointments will be filled within minutes.

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

In addition, UMC will be holding a special appointment registration Thursday at 9 a.m. for seniors that are 65 years of age and older.

At that time, seniors can register online at UMCelpaso.org or by calling 915-200-2700. Both the telephone number and website will close after available appointments (1,000 each via phone and online) are taken on Thursday.

These will likely be UMC's last online registration events as they work toward a consolidated registration process along with the City of El Paso that is expected to be ready next week.