Chicago partners with company to help residents book vaccine appointments

The rush is on to get Chicago’s most vulnerable populations vaccinated, but the infrastructure for signing up is not perfect yet.

Now, the city is teaming up with another company to help get people vaccine appointments.

So far, FOX 32 tried a few zip codes on Zocdoc and found nothing. Several hundred-thousand people fit the criteria, but Chicago only has 40,000 first doses this week.

There is a short supply across the nation.

"I am 66 and James is 77. We should have had it, I am asthmatic," Lorraine Griffin said.

Griffin is in phase 1B. She tried to set her appointment a month ago and had no luck.

"They didn’t have it, or they said I had to wait. The problem was I was given the run around and even worse I couldn’t get through to a person," she said.

Eventually, she went through her primary care physician and is getting her first dose this week.

Chicago’s health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, says that is the way to go for those without internet capabilities or older people that find it hard to navigate online.

The city also announced a free partnership with Zocdoc.com/vaccine, which is a way to find out if vaccine doses are available in your zip code -- and if they are not, you can be notified when they are.

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It is not just the city in short supply, the Cook County Department of Public Health says their website saw nearly 1.9 million hits in just an hour Tuesday and they booked more than 3,400 appointments in the first 35 minutes.

At its peak, the website experienced 65,810 hits in a single minute.

"We would ask that people seek vaccine in the county and in the state where you live," Arwady said.

Again, we are hearing a few good resources to get the vaccine is through major pharmacies and your primary care doctor.