Clinic Appointment Reservation Tiers
Appointment reservation tiers allow standard and mobile clinics to allocate percentages of appointment capacity by clinic defined buckets, customizable by vaccine type and age group:
- Vaccine type includes: COVID-19 1st dose, COVID-19 2nd dose, COVID-19 3rd dose, COVID-19 additional dose, Influenza, Walk-In, Mpox 1st dose, and Mpox 2nd
- Age group includes: All, 12+ Years, and 5–11 Years
Appointment reservation tiers also allow for first-come, first-served (referred to in VAMS as “free for all”): these are any appointments not allocated to a specific vaccine type or age group.
NOTE: Clinics wanting to utilize reservation tiers must configure their treatment station groups to serve all vaccine types.
Appointment reservation buckets can be customized by vaccine type, age group, and to allow for use of Free-For-All (first-come, first-served appointments).
- On the Appointment Management tab, scroll to the Appointment Reservations tab. Expand the window by clicking the Down Arrow on the right side.
- Three appointment reservation buckets can be customized. To customize each reservation bucket, click the Down Arrow in-line with the reservation bucket you want to edit. Click Edit. In the pop-up window, select the Vaccine Type and Age Group from the drop-down lists. To allow use of Free-For-All appointments within this reservation bucket, mark the check box, Allow Use Of Free-For-All. Click Save.
- By marking Allow Use Of Free-For-All in a Reservation Bucket, when all of the appointments defined within the reservation bucket are scheduled, recipients can begin to use the Free-For-All allotment on a first-come first-served basis to schedule any dose appointment (subject to clinic inventory availability).
Appointment reservation tiers allow clinics to have more flexibility in constructing their schedules and reserving appointments for specific types. The reservation tiers are rolling time frames (with day 1 always being the current day) during which the reservation percentages are in effect.
The tiers are based on vaccine protocol and allow clinics to set different percentages for different time periods if they anticipate their needs are changing. As clinic administrators update their appointment tiers, appointment availability will be updated in real time.
| Tier | Details |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Tier 1 is the percentage of appointments available for each reservation bucket, on a rolling basis, for the first 20 days out from the current date. |
| Tier 2a | Tier 2a is the percentage of appointments available for each reservation bucket, on a rolling basis, for 21-27 days out from the current date. |
| Tier 2b | Tier 2b is the percentage of appointments available for each reservation bucket, on a rolling basis, for 28-34 days out from the current date. |
| Tier 3 | Tier 3 is the percentage of appointments available for each reservation bucket, on a rolling basis, for 35 days onward from the current date. |
An example of appointment reservation percentages is as follows:
| Tiers | Duration of Tier | % Reserved for Bucket 1 | % Reserved for Bucket 2 | % Reserved for Bucket 3 | % Free-for-All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 3 | Days 35 and onward | 25 | 40 | 10 | 25 |
| Tier 2b | Day 28–34 | 25 | 30 | 15 | 30 |
| Tier 2a | Day 21–27 | 20 | 35 | 5 | 40 |
| Tier 1 | Day 1–20 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 70 |
Edit or Allocate New Percentages
You can edit the default reservation percentages at any time.
- Scroll to the table with the tiers listed in rows and percentages reserved for buckets listed in columns (shown as Step 2: Define Reservation Percentage).
- Hover over a cell within the table you want to edit until you see the Pencil icon in the right corner of the cell.
- Click the Pencil icon to edit the percentage set for the appointment type in that tier.
- Enter a Whole Number Percentage (e.g., 20) in each editable column for each tier. Press Enter or click out of the field after each number you type. Edited cells will be highlighted in yellow until the page is refreshed.
NOTE: You only need to allocate appointment percentages for the bucket 1, bucket 2, and bucket 3 columns when setting tier reservation percentages. Any percentage left over after adding up the bucket 1, bucket 2, and bucket 3 percentages will automatically allocate to first-come, first-served appointments (any dose).
- For example: If bucket 1 allocation is 25%, bucket 2 is 50%, and bucket 3 is 15%, the remaining 10% of appointments will be allocated to the first come, first-served appointment type or % Free-for-All (last column in the table).
- When you finish entering all percentages, click Save underneath the table.
- NOTE: Setting appointment reservation tiers will not change previously booked appointments.
- If your clinic already has booked appointments, it may take several weeks to see results of clinic appointment reservation percentage tiers.
- In addition, setting appointment reservation tiers will not allow your clinic to go over capacity (e.g., setting a percentage reserved for bucket 1 in a tier to 50% when 60% of clinic capacity is already the same appointment type does not mean your clinic will book to 110% capacity).
- NOTE: Setting appointment reservation tiers will not change previously booked appointments.
NOTE: If you do not customize your percentages, your clinic will not have tiers activated and all appointments will book as first-come, first-served.
For additional support, complete the contact form for the VAMS Help Desk.
Toll-Free Number | +1 833-748-1979
Email: CARS_HelpDesk@cdc.gov
Hours of Operation | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM EST | Monday – Friday