MUSC Vaccine Website Goes Viral, Allowing Anyone To Sign Up For A Date | Health

A website designed to allow healthcare workers to register for an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the University of Medicine of South Carolina has gone viral, allowing anyone in the greater public with access to the link to make an appointment, regardless of their eligibility.

MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said the registration website was initially sent to outside healthcare providers in the community, such as dentists, ophthalmologists and physiotherapists, to enable their employees to get vaccinated by the hospital. Healthcare workers are considered part of Phase 1A of the vaccine deployment, which gives them access to the vaccine ahead of other high-risk groups.

Woolwine said MUSC relies on an honor system, hoping those outside health care providers don’t pass the registration link on to friends and family. But it inevitably happened. She was unsure if anyone or how many people in the community who are not eligible for phase 1A were able to get vaccinated through MUSC. But in the future, anyone with an appointment will need to show proof of their healthcare-related job, she said.

“The upside is that these are people who want to get the vaccine. That’s a good thing. We want people to get the vaccine,” Woolwine said. “The problem is supply and demand.”

This story is developing.

Reach Lauren Sausser at 843-937-5598.