The health line of the NJ vaccine temporarily halted the discussion of COVID vaccinations, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said during the governor’s coronavirus briefing.
Representatives will also receive new training, she said.
“We made a temporary interruption last night in the call center’s ability to make appointments,” Persichilli said. “We discovered that we had to streamline the system at the end of the agent and also provide additional training for the agents.”
Frustrated callers to the hotline told NJ Advance Media that they had provided confusing information through hotline representatives, including that they could not book an appointment by telephone, or that they were not eligible, even though they were in a suitable group is. Others were told that they had to use the link for the New Jersey Vaccine Scheduling System (NJVSS) to get a date or that the system was not available.
Persichilli said in general: “the training is about using the system,” with a little training on the registration of people “, but more training on the appointment plan.”
“We found it was not as easy as we thought it would be. It ends up with things like double discussions, which we can not have, ‘she said. The representatives ‘do pretty well’ on frequently asked questions.
The commissioner noted that the call center is new and that the state “knows the areas where they need more training.”
“The system itself has had issues and we talk to Microsoft, which is the provider, almost every day to work out the bumps,” she said.
Government Phil Murphy agreed that there were problems with the seller.
“It remains an ongoing challenge. It feels like one step forward, two steps back with the seller, ‘Murphy said.
The governor also said they are considering filling staff, which is now about 250 people.
The system can hand out information and help people pre-register, Persichilli said.
The call center, which is open seven days a week from 08:00 to 20:00, can be reached at (855) 568-0545.
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State House Reporter Matt Arco contributed to this report.
Karin Price Mueller can be reached at [email protected].