More than 1,000 Barrington residents 75 years or older have registered with the town to receive a Covid-19 vaccination when they become available.

According to an email from Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha to a resident, by early Friday morning 1,039 seniors had registered to receive the vaccine through the town.

That number far exceeds the amount of vaccine the town has received so far and is scheduled to receive in the next two months. Barrington received an initial allotment of 80 vaccine doses from the state last week; those vaccines have already been administered. The town is scheduled to receive 110 doses each week for eight straight weeks, with distribution starting on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

The town has decided to administer the vaccines oldest to youngest. Mr. Cunha said the oldest 110 residents on the registry will be notified next week.

Phone lines being added

The town is accepting registrations for the vaccination program online and over the phones. Officials have asked residents who do not have access to a computer, to call the Barrington Senior Center (401-247-1926) between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, to register for a vaccination. Many people who have tried to register over the phone have been met with a busy tone. Said one Barrington resident in a letter to the editor last week: “Eager to get the vaccine I tried a total of 69 times to contact the Peck Center, beginning one minute after I received the email only to get a busy signal each time I called. My last call was after the center closed and the phone line was still busy. Thank God I am not one to think that someone may have taken the phone off the hook and left it there all day.”

On Friday, Mr. Cunha said the town was adding phone lines and personnel to remedy the problem.

Town-sponsored clinics are one of three ways people can be vaccinated. Those who are eligible can also make an appointment through a CVS or Walgreens pharmacy, and in late February, officials will be opening state vaccination sites.