CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Friday was the first day Mecklenburg County teachers could sign up for COVID-19 vaccine appointments, and they're already full.
Teachers told WCNC Charlotte that the process was slow and for most of the day, they couldn't even get through.
"It's frustrating because it's 100% fend for yourself," CMS teacher, Justin Parmenter said. "20,000 other CMS employees doing the same thing, yeah it crashed right away."
Parmenter said he tried booking an appointment as soon as the website opened. He never got a spot.
"Trying to teach my classes and click refresh on the county's vaccination website at the same time all day," Parmenter said.
Appointments opened at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning and almost immediately the website crashed. A high volume of calls overwhelmed the system. By about 2:30 p.m. appointments were booked up until March 9.
As vaccine supply increases, additional spots will be added.
"We are encouraged that more spots will become available," CMS leader Christine Pejot said.
"If there is nothing available at that time there is also a process by which an employee can get on a waiting list." Pejot said.
"If their supply increases were working with them to help our staff access appointments," CMS leader, Monica Adamian said. "We've done things before where we've gotten consent for them to call our employees directly to make those appointments."
This unfolding as CMS gets ready to head back to the classroom. Parmenter hopeful he can get his shot of protection as soon as possible.
"I've gone this far without getting covid so I hope I can make it another month or however long it's going to be until the vaccine," Parmenter said.
Mecklenburg County said severe weather in other parts of the county is impacting their vaccine shipments. The county said they expect to receive the new shipment by Feb. 15.
StarMed said because of the weather delays on vaccine shipments, it had to postpone 1,500 appointments. The chief medical officer said it's disappointing, but once the doses come in, he thinks they'll be able to get through the backlog of people.
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People can still get on the waiting list by going to the county's COVID-19 website or calling 980-314-9400. The county will notify us when more appointments become available.
Have a relative or friend in another state and want to know when they can get vaccinated? Visit NBC News' Plan Your Vaccine site to find out about each state's vaccine rollout plan.