The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital signed up 544 more Islanders for vaccine appointments Monday, after registration eligibility was expanded to include teachers.

The appointments were all booked in 38 minutes, hospital spokesman Marissa Lefebvre said in an email to the Gazette.

Vaccines are now available to all Island educators, along with residents 65 and older and those with two or more underlying conditions. The next signups will begin Saturday morning at 8.

Eligible Islanders can sign up for the vaccine by going to mvhospital.org and clicking the link at the top of the home page that says “schedule your Covid-19 vaccine.” The link directs Islanders to a page with a button that says “schedule my appointment,” which opens the online scheduling tool.

Past registration openings have filled up quickly.

The expanded eligibility began March 11 after an announcement from Gov. Charlie Baker last week. The governor was under pressure to open up vaccine availability to educators after announcing that he wanted students back in classrooms by April 1.

Although Monday was the first opportunity for educators to register for shots, all other eligible Islanders can still sign up as well, according to hospital officials. The hospital is also working with Vineyard schools superintendent Matt D’Andrea to schedule a separate clinic for educators. Further details on the clinic have not been released.

The hospital will be open for vaccine registration twice a week, on Mondays at 5 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. The Saturday signups will be for Tuesday and Wednesday appointments.

As of Thursday, March 4, the hospital had vaccinated 4,194 Islanders. Of those, 2,279 have received their second dose vaccine. Vaccinated Islanders include more than 1,500 residents 75 or older, approximately 300 first responders, nearly 1,000 health care workers and more than 1,000 residents 65 or older.

According to metrics released by the state Department of Public Health on Friday, Dukes County leads the state in the cumulative percentage of residents with Covid-19 vaccine doses, at 24.8 per cent. Barnstable County, which covers Cape Cod is the second highest, at 24.1 per cent. Nantucket is fourth, at 19.1 per cent.

The second-dose vaccination rate is second in the state, at 12.4 per cent. Ms. Lefebvre confirmed the 12 per cent number for total vaccinations in a follow-up email, saying the hospital estimated the population at 19,250.

The county has also received the second-highest amount of vaccines as a percentage of county population in the state, at 35 per cent, trailing only Suffolk County. State metrics show that the county has received 6,100 doses of the vaccine.

Hospital officials said that they are in frequent communication with the state regarding vaccine supply, which they said is dependent on the federal government.

Meanwhile, the Island continues to see a a sharp decline in Covid-19 case rates. On Friday, health agents reported seven total cases between Feb. 28 and March 5, the lowest weekly case total since Oct. 24. Each week in 2021 has seen a decrease in total case numbers.

Health agents were alert to the possibility of a spike in cases after February school vacation week. On Monday, all Mirimus school student tests came back negative.