CVS announced Thursday morning that appointments are now fully booked for the allocation of vaccine the pharmacy received from the federal government for Virginia this week.
The pharmacy chain previously opened appointments to anyone 65 and older. Originally, CVS said they would give the vaccine to people who met state criteria, which as of now includes Phase 1a and Phase 1b, but on Monday CVS updated that and said for now they will be administering the vaccine to individuals who are 65+ and who have pre-registered with their local health department, although the Virginia Department of Health and CVS were not able to sync up their technology to confirm people pre-registered.
Beginning Thursday, people over 65 were able to check CVS's site for new appointments, but all appointments have been booked as of 11 a.m.
"We understand the high demand for vaccine is outweighing the current supply of vaccine available," Amy Thibault with CVS told News 3. "The good news is that every appointment that is booked represents a shot in the arm and a vaccinated person.
"We have the capacity and the capability to vaccinate more people at more locations and we stand ready to do so as soon as vaccine supply increases."
CVS initially instructed vaccine applicants to keep refreshing the web page in case appointments opened up, but the pharmacy said appointments will not open up again at this point.
Still, many spent the week trying to book an appointment unsuccessfully. "We've got people here ready and in the category of 1b to get the shot, but we can't sign-up because everywhere is full. It's bewildering to us," said William Thacker, a Norfolk man who's been trying to book appointments for himself and help his neighbors. "It's frustrating, very frustrating."