Within the first 24 hours of KCHD rolling out its vaccine waitlist, more than 6,600 qualifying individuals had signed up.

“We are hearing from folks in our community about how easy it was to sign up and how grateful they are for this option,” said Dr. Martha Buchanan, Senior Director and Public Health Officer at the Knox County Health Department. “As we receive more vaccine, we are excited to begin working our way through this list to provide this much-desired protection to our community.”

The waitlist, which went live Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., is open for health care workers, first responders and those 70 years and older. A full list of qualifying groups (Phase 1a1 and 1a2) can be found on KCHD’s website.

Qualifying individuals can sign up on the waitlist by clicking a pop-up box on KCHD’s COVID-19 webpage.

Individuals will be asked to enter their name and contact information and answer a series of questions. Once completed, their name will be added to KCHD’s vaccine waitlist. Moving forward, as additional vaccine is received, individuals on the waitlist will be contacted for available appointments in the order in which their name appears on the waitlist.

Those without internet or computer access can add their name to the waitlist by calling KCHD’s Public Information Line (865-215-5555) or 3-1-1 (865-215-4311).

Knox County continues to roll out vaccine to the community as quickly as supply and resources allow. According to state data for the big four metropolitan counties, Knox County is leading when looking at the percent of population who have received just one dose.

More than 287,000 Tennesseans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.