SAN ANTONIO — UPDATE: According to the City of San Antonio's Office of Emergency Management, there were more than 11,000 people on the registration website when it opened at 9 a.m. The 9,000 open slots for the first week of vaccinations at the site filled up in less than 30 minutes.
The city has not announced when the next round of registrations will open. Officials are expecting 20-25,000 doses of the vaccine from the state on a weekly basis.
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The City of San Antonio said Friday the Alamodome will serve as a mass no-cost COVID-19 vaccination site.
Starting Monday, January 11, Bexar County residents who fall under Phases 1A and 1B can receive the Pfizer variant of the vaccine by appointment only.
At a press conference Friday to provide further details on the city's plan for the site, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called the vaccine effort the "most important game played in the Alamodome, and we hope to win."
Nirenberg said the plan was to distribute the vaccine to "over 1,000 people per day, 6 days a week." A press release from the city was more specific -- the site will distribute 1,500 vaccines per day.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said the site will allow for more "geographical diversity" in vaccine distribution, which State Sen. Jose Menendez echoed in his remarks.
"Wonderland [of the Americas] Mall is working well, but it is not in the center of the city. We need to have a location that is easily accessible," Menendez said.
Wolff said the city currently has 18,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on hand. 9,000 doses will be distributed at Wonderland of the Americas Mall, where health officials have been able to vaccinate 1,500 residents a day, while 9,000 will be sent to the Alamodome for distribution.
In terms of vaccine supply, Interim Metro Health Director Dr. Colleen Bridger said the county expected weekly vaccine shipments from the state. The county plans for 25,000 vaccine doses per week.
Nirenberg said the city is "asking for vaccines every day, and we're expecting vaccines to arrive on a daily basis. We do expect these vaccines to arrive on Monday, so we are booking appointments based on that expectation."
To register for an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Alamodome, residents are urged to apply online here; residents without Internet access can call the 3-1-1 hotline. Registration opens Saturday, January 9.
Currently, various medical organizations in San Antonio are working on vaccinating people in Phase 1A, which includes frontline and healthcare workers, and Phase 1B, which includes residents over the age of 65 and people with certain health conditions.
University Health Systems and Christus Santa Rosa already have clinics underway, and H-E-B is expected to have vaccinations available in the near future.
Find out more details about vaccine distribution in San Antonio and frequently asked questions in the KENS 5 COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker.