Austin Public Health debuted an online pre-registration system on Wednesday after the department received 12,000 doses of the COVID vaccine from the Texas Department of State Health Services earlier this week.

APH is a safety net provider and focused on distributing its vaccine supply to the area's most vulnerable residents, including those who are uninsured, who live in poverty and who lack access to transportation as well as communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. APH encourages people with private insurance to contact their primary care provider about being vaccinated.

To pre-register, individuals can sign up here, where they will be asked to create an account or log in to an existing account, such as one used to access APH's COVID testing services. Then individuals will complete an assessment. If they meet certain criteria—including belonging to the state's priority groups 1A and 1B—and doses remain available, they will be asked to schedule an appointment. Otherwise, they will be placed on a waitlist.

The APH Nursing Hotline, which can be reached at 512-972-5560, is also available for individuals without internet access to pre-register. It is available 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, with multiple language options, including Spanish and Vietnamese.

Only those with scheduled appointments will receive the location information for the vaccine distribution sites.