Website crashes as spots fill up fast at Allegheny County’s second COVID-19 vaccination clinic

PITTSBURGH — All online appointments for the second COVID-19 vaccination site next week in Castle Shannon are filled.

Appointments were taken within the first 10 minutes.

The website crashed for a short time, but it has since been restored, Allegheny County officials said.

Phone registration will also be available starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Call 211 to schedule an appointment.

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Phone appointments are only for people who do not have access to a computer or the internet.

Officials with the Allegheny County Health Department announced earlier this week that they would open a second COVID-19 vaccination site in Castle Shannon.

The site will be operational next week, according to ACHD, and will only be for people aged 65 and older to get the COVID-19 vaccine. It will be staffed by members of the Allegheny County Emergency Services who have been trained in storage, handling and administration of the vaccine.

The location will be open only to people with appointments on Tuesday, Feb. 16 inside the Castle Shannon Fire Department Banquet Hall at 3600 Library Road. It is near the Memorial Hall T station.

Here is a map showing where the banquet hall is located:

Appointments at the Monroeville and Castle Shannon POD are required. No walk-ins are allowed and those without appointments will be turned away, as will those who are not age 65 and over, regardless of appointment.

This vaccination site will use the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. People who get their first does of it at the Castle Shannon location will receive information about their second dose about 10 days before that dose is needed.

Callers to the 211 hotline should expect long wait times. The location will be open as long as the health department has enough vaccine to give out. As the department’s supply of vaccine increases, more vaccination locations will open.

Next week’s Castle Shannon opening follows the opening of the vaccination site in Monroeville last month.

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