Salt Lake County residents frustrated by problems registering COVID-19 vaccine

The online registration from the Salt Lake County Department of Health for COVID-19 vaccinations ran into major problems Wednesday morning, leaving elderly residents and their families frustrated and unhappy.

When registration opened Wednesday, tens of thousands of people simultaneously attempted to download the Salt Lake County Department of Health’s COVID registration form; it could not handle the volume, ”provincial officials wrote in a statement. “After working quickly with the system programmer, the form was up and booked before 09:00”

According to the statement, at 10 a.m., 15,042 people signed up for 30,000 slots. There are approximately 70,000 residents 70 years and older in Salt Lake County.

“The number of appointments is based on the amount of doses we said we could expect,” Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in the statement.

“We appreciate your patience. The department of health will continue to work with the system programmer to prevent such problems in the future, ”reads the statement.

The uprising angered residents waiting for access to vaccination.

“It was very annoying,” said Salt Lake City resident Jen Kious. ‘I waited with bated breath to try to get my two 80-year-old parents’ vaccinations. I got up at 8am and it did not work. ”

Kenneth Sperling said filling out most online forms was ‘simple’, but ‘the problem is that if you go down and go to the registry,’ select ‘visit date’. There is no box on the form for a visit date. ”

“You get everything filled in, you press Submit and then you get stuck in cyberspace,” he said.

Kious experienced the same problem, and others. She said she forgot to introduce her parent’s gender and that she was marked. When she tried to add it, all the other information she had previously entered was deleted.

Kious said she saw changes on the page when she tried to register. “They’re trying to fix it clearly.”

At a subsequent attempt to register, she said, the request for a visit date appeared before the rest of the form, ‘but when we came to the end and hit the register, it gave an error statement with the words ‘Max number for this’ date. ‘So, of course, it gave us times that were already full. ”

When she tries another date, she receives a message that she has already registered. ‘So I do not know if I am registered or not. …. I have the utmost respect for the Department of Public Health. They worked incredibly hard during this pandemic. I do not want to criticize them. But it’s very frustrating because I’re trying hard to protect my parents. ”

Diane Orr said the process is “unclear” for seniors trying to register. ‘I’m 76, but I tried to help people in their 80’s. They all tried to call this morning, but it’s busy, of course. ”

She led the seven octogenarians to the country’s website, but they experienced the same problems. “People are stunned. You fill out the form, and then there is no information on where you can go from, ”Orr said. “I would like to see people – especially in that age group – not get embarrassed by these things.”

Sperling said he was able to successfully register at about 9:15 p.m.; Orr said she was still having problems through the afternoon.

John Keahey, a former Salt Lake Tribune contributor, experienced similar problems. “When I completed the form, it would have told me that the time I had chosen was not available,” he said. ‘I went back two or three times in response to’ unavailable ‘messages and when I chose the third, the form went away. I do not know if I am registered. No indication. ”

Keahey said he believes he was able to register in a subsequent attempt shortly before 10am, “but in the confusion I did not record the date I finally chose what was accepted” – an issue that Kious also encountered has. Keahey hopes the country’s health department will send out email reminders.

• “Terrible planning for this. They should have known that thousands of people want to register for the vaccine, but the form does not work and the phone number only gives a busy signal. ‘

• “I am elderly and have severe chronic heart disease. Do better. “

• “Just to pray, it works.”

• ‘It’s a complete mess. I was hoping Salt Lake County would be more prepared. ”

Vaccination of vaccines seems to have been generally chaotic since Wednesday morning. The Weber-Morgan Health Department website could not open at all.

The Bear River Health Department’s website reported that its first clinic for patients 70 years and older is on January 14 – before the state’s January 18 start date – but the clinic was full and the department did not plan to open more to announce vaccination. dates on Wednesday.

The Utah County website reports that there will be vaccinations for vaccination of patients from 70 until Wednesday 6pm – but below the announcement there was a link to a 70 vaccination clinic that had already taken place on Wednesday, which also was full.

The Central Utah Health Department posted a link to register for a vaccine, but it requires a registration code to proceed, and no registration code was immediately visible on the site.

The Department of Health in Southeast Utah has posted a link to a vaccination scheduler, which says all appointments have been filled since Wednesday morning.

Health departments in Tooele County and the Tri-County area in northeastern Utah have both targeted website users on the state’s general information page, which does not allow patients to plan vaccinations. The San Juan County Department of Health’s website, which is listed by Google as an expired safety certificate, also linked to the state’s website.

Only in Wasatch County, which planned telephonic appointments, and Summit County, which planned by e-mail, attempts to plan the vaccine did not reach a dead end.

The Tribune will update this evolving story.