COVID-19 vaccine appointments go fast at Rite Aid

Rite Aid appointments for the COVID-19 quickly booked to capacity almost as soon as they became available Friday morning, repeating what happened this week when CVS's appointment system went online.

The locations of Rite Aid stores administering the vaccine appeared on the state website early Friday morning without links. Around 8:30 a.m., links to the Rite Aid vaccination website appeared where users were "screened" for their location, age, occupation and medical conditions in line with state eligibility rules.

During the next step of selecting a location, users found out if their location has any appointments available. In a spot check of locations in Bergen, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth and Salem counties, a message that an appointment was not available appeared.

Rite Aid spokesman Chris Savarese would not say if all appointments had been taken.

"Demand continues to outweigh supply and we expect appointments to fill quickly. If you are receiving that messages, all appointments have been allocated," Savarese said in an email.

Rite Aid has 7,500 doses available at 70 locations. CVS had nearly 20,000 doses divided between 27 locations that were gone in about 30 minutes on Thursday.

The CVS website on Friday morning showed all its locations were still "fully booked."

CVS spokeswoman Tara Burke on Thursday said the chain would make appointments available as supply becomes available.

Walmart has started administering the vaccine in 11 states but not in New Jersey, where 13 Walmart and Sam's Club locations will eventually have it available. A spokeswoman would not say when New Jersey will have vaccines.