MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — A new statewide sign-up system for vaccine appointments will be unveiled across Tennessee next week.
This comes as folks have been angry with the vaccine rollout process across the state. At the State Farm Operations Center in Murfreesboro, people with appointments showed up to get the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
84-year-old Francis Follis said her daughter signed her up online through the local health department. "I feel like anybody would be crazy to not have a shot,” Follis said, "I don’t want to have COVID."
According to a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health, the new system will be similar to the one currently in Rutherford County. In some counties, it's been a free-for-all, while in others they require appointments.
"People who are 75-years-old and outside just in their cars, for long periods of time, it doesn’t appear as if they have very many vaccines available,” Jerry Green said, “The lines are long, so a lot of the residents were making a lot of complaints about it."
Healthcare provider Jerry Green said that's not the case in Rutherford County. He had to secure an appointment to get vaccinated, and it didn't take long. "I was able to get an appointment quickly because once I received the email that I'd been selected in the category, I immediately registered, and it was done," Green said.
The Tennessee Department of Health will also have a hotline people can call in case they don’t have internet or computer access. If all goes as planned, the new statewide appointment system will be up and running early next week.
86-year-old George Hester was happy to get an appointment. "It was not difficult,” Hester said, "The shot was fine."
