Riverside County is changing its website making appointments about coronavirus vaccination after numerous complaints from residents who said the site crashed or could not plan a shot once they filled out online forms.
The announcement comes hours after an appointment window, which began Thursday, Jan. 21, closed after 32 minutes for six provincial clinics planned for the next few days in Perris, Lake Elsinore and Indio. Nearly 4,000 appointments were booked, one for each available vaccine dose. Last week, more than 11,000 appointments were filled in less than two hours on Friday, January 15th.
A new website link will be announced soon, provincial officials said in a news release late Thursday afternoon.
For many, it was a struggle to just sign up for the region. They took to social media and email to report accidents on the site and reported filling out forms only to find out that no appointments were available.
“It was like trying to buy concert tickets while the site collapsed, constantly reloading and then finally getting in to fill out all my information to find out all the appointments were made,” writes Kathleen Orr, a 49-year-old Resident of Riverside and the middle school teacher of the 8th grade, who tried to make an appointment that afternoon.
She added: “I do not know of one teacher who was successful today in making an appointment when the new websites opened.”
Gary Dailey, a 69-year-old man from Riverside, sought an appointment through the country’s website and also through Albertsons’ pharmacy.
“I just like how the (county) website is set up, if you’re lucky enough to continue,” he said sarcastically via email. “I like to fill out the forms repeatedly until I get to the very end, where I actually make the appointment to find out there is no, or better yet, the website vapor closes and you have to start all over again. “
In the release, officials blamed a technical problem in the website code (which was exposed at the time) ‘opened the appointment window.
“Unfortunately, when many residents tried to visit the dating site, they saw a time-out screen,” the release said.
“Residents are understandably frustrated because the dating site did not show up today,” Interim County Executive Juan C. Perez said in the release. ‘While we worked with our seller to ensure it would be in operation today, it was unfortunately not. Honestly, this is unacceptable. We apologize for this unfortunate situation and will be redirecting residents to a new site soon. ”
Riverside County officials also reminded residents that there are other options outside the province, such as doctors, pharmacies and emergency care clinics, but stressed that the demand for shots exceeds supply.
In an email to a voter, Jeff Greene, chief of staff of Riverside County Superintendent Kevin Jeffries, writes that part of the problem is Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement that provinces can vaccinate 65-year-olds and older start offering – ‘we have nowhere near enough vaccine supplies to meet that need. ”
“The previous plan with levels and phases had its own frustrations and confusion, but it was at least designed to suit smaller groups simultaneously so that the system would not be overwhelmed,” Greene wrote.
‘This week we only had 3,900 doses available in the country, and those appointments disappeared within half an hour (Thursday), and the system expired completely for many / most / all of the unsuccessful applicants … The country has considerable purchased extra bandwidth capacity. for this week, but the site seller apparently also had other issues that contributed to the site crashing. ”
Another case, Greene wrote, is the state website used to complete the registration.
“Our own website simply leads people to the state-run CALVAX.org system,” he wrote. ‘And not only did their platform crash regularly, but they’re also responsible for the very frustrating process that does not tell you that there is no more space available after you submit all your information, other than a ticket website in the private sector that holds your place while you fill out the form.
Riverside County has no control over it, and other counties see the same problem, he said.
San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said users of the county’s vaccination site are having trouble clicking on a link they take to the state website to fill out information to make an appointment. Often, users fill out pages of personal information, only to find that there are no appointments available, he said.
The province is so frustrated, Wert added, that it is considering creating its own online appointment booking system, even though it will take a lot of time and money.
Riverside County officials also said that when appointments are opened on their new website, it will still link to the state’s vaccine registration portal. If all appointments are discussed during the state registration, residents will not be able to plan a time, the release reads.