Today, DC Health announced that the District will switch to a pre-registration vaccination system to book appointments beginning next week! We are excited about this effort as it will eliminate a great deal of frustration among eligible individuals who navigated a very difficult system over the last few weeks. We are also grateful for other efforts announced to improve the vaccination portal for the remainder of its use.

Councilmember Brooke Pinto spoke with Channel 7's Anna-Lysa Gale about the importance of the District adopting a pre-registration COVID-19 vaccination registration process.

Today, District residents experienced a series of failures as they attempted to book vaccination appointments using the vaccine portal. These technical failures, coupled with the fact that residents could not get through to the call center, are unacceptable. There are no excuses. I voiced these concerns to the City Administrator during a performance oversight hearing this morning. I have also followed up with the District’s Department of Health (DOH) and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to better understand why these technical failures occurred and how we can ensure it does not happen again.I have urged DC Health for the last several months to adopt a pre-registration system so residents can fill out their information and be notified of available appointments. Today, DC Health informed me that they are making these changes to the registration system and expect them will be live in mid-March. Here's what comes next.

Dear Neighbors – This week, our nation paid tribute to the 500,000 American lives lost due to COVID-19 and honored the many loved ones they left behind. Here in the District, we honor the 1,000 lives lost by continuing to ramp up our efforts to ensure that we can minimize the impacts of this virus and keep all District residents, workers, and visitors safe.Last week, Mayor Bowser announced the launch of the coronavirus vaccination dashboard. Each week, the dashboard will be updated with information regarding the number of residents vaccinated, the District’s vaccine supply, and related statistics.

Yesterday around 3 p.m., an adult male was shot in a townhome on the 1000 block of Thomas Jefferson Street in Georgetown. There is no current threat to public safety, but I know how troubling this news is, so I want to provide all of the information that we have at this time.

Earlier this month, the Council of the District of Columbia kicked off its annual Performance Oversight process, after which time, we will immediately enter budget season and begin preparing the annual budget for Fiscal Year 2022 and the accompanying five-year financial plan. To ensure that I hear directly from YOU, I will host a Ward 2 Community Budget Meeting on Thursday, February 25, at 6:30 p.m.

Beginning tomorrow, Thursday, February 18th, individuals who work in a grocery store setting, health and human services and social services outreach, manufacturing, and food packaging will become eligible to register for vaccination appointments. In addition to this great news, it has been reported that over 3,500 Ward 2 residents aged 65 and older have received their first dose of the vaccine, and the federal government also announced that additional vaccines have been secured and will be sent to our city. I am confident that progress is being made on our vaccine roll out and that more and more residents will receive their vaccines each week moving forward. We are grateful to DC Health, the entirety of the District Government, community organizations, and medical partners that have helped make this possible.

Neighbors –Thank you for your continued patience and engagement around the vaccine distribution plans. Last week, I participated in oversight roundtables to review DC Health’s roll-out of the vaccine program. Due to the constructive feedback I heard from many of you, I was able to follow up with DC Health and request updates in the system and will continue to work with DC Health to improve the sign-up process and accessibility. As of this week, the District will have received over 100,000 vaccines, and 46% of Ward 2 seniors have received at least their first dose of the vaccine; we are hopeful this number will continue to climb.

I am excited to share some important updates with you about actions that we have taken at the Council over the last two weeks to protect workers, support families and businesses, and operate the District Government more efficiently. I also want to make you aware of the Ward 2 Community Budget Meeting that I will host later this month. My goal is to provide Ward 2 residents with an opportunity to share their budget ideas and concerns directly with me.Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very happy Black History Month. I am grateful for the many contributions of Black Washingtonians, both past and present, to our educational, political, social and cultural institutions here in Washington, D.C. Be sure to follow me on social media as I celebrate and share some of the remarkable history that can be found in Ward 2 throughout the month!

Neighbors – thank you for staying engaged and committed to receiving your vaccines as soon as possible. On Friday and Monday, I participated in oversight roundtables to review the DC Health’s roll-out of the vaccine program. Due to the constructive feedback that I received from many of you, I was able to follow up with DC Health and request updates in the system. To date, the District has vaccinated over 35,000 District residents, and I will continue to work with DC Health to improve the sign-up program.