Ford: Over 140-thousand Ontarians booked vaccine appointments despite technical issues
Posted March 16, 2021 5:58 am.
Last Updated March 16, 2021 11:12 pm.
Ontario’s Premier says roughly 143,000 Ontarians aged 80 and older booked their COVID-19 vaccine appointments as of Monday despite technical issues with the online portal and long wait times to get through to the call centre.
The online booking system – www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine – and call centre – 1-888-999-6488 – went live at 8 a.m., and more than 8,000 people were in the queue a few minutes later, with an estimated wait time of about an hour.
Some users reported seeing error messages after filling out the website’s vaccine booking forms.
Doug Ford acknowledged the glitches on Tuesday, saying a handful of people dealt with these aforementioned issues.
Eric Weichel logged onto the site at 9 a.m. from his home in North Bay, Ont., as did his mother in Parry Sound, Ont., and a friend who tried from a cell phone in Guelph, Ont. They were all trying to get an appointment for Weichel’s 85-year-old grandmother, Hazel Wager.
After getting into the queue and filling out basic information like date of birth and postal code, all three kept getting the same message – a blank screen with just the words “form has been tampered with.”
RELATED: Canada lags behind U.S., other countries in vaccinations but expects to catch up quickly
Weichel said his mother then tried the phone number, but gave up after nine attempts to get through. He said he finally was able to book an appointment through the website at 3 p.m., six hours after he started.
His grandmother has her first shot scheduled for next Monday in Parry Sound, Ont., and her second shot appointment in July.
“I’m so excited to hug her after she gets her vaccine,” Weichel said in a phone interview.
Premier Ford said any “bumps in the road, or wrinkles in the system” would be taken care of immediately.
“I’m just very grateful that the system never crashed,” he told a news conference. “That’s what I’m shocked about, actually.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said the technical issue some users had encountered had been resolved by 4:30 p.m.
RELATED: AstraZeneca now considered safe for seniors above 65, NACI says
Several health units also reported issues with the new system, saying they were working with the province to address the problems.
“Please do not attempt to book an appointment at this time,” the Grey Bruce Health Unit in southern Ontario told local residents just hours after the booking system went live. It said system issues had resulted in booking errors.
The Simcoe-Muskoka Health Unit said some people were encountering error messages that indicated no local appointments were available through the booking site for its region. It said the province had not finished inputting all of its clinics and was hoping to resolve the issue later Monday.
There was some call centre confusion for seniors trying to book vaccination appointments through the provincial system.
A caller to the 680 NEWS newsroom says she was on hold for three hours Tuesday trying to book an appointment for her mother who turns 80 years old in June.
Despite the premier and health minister assuring people that if you turn 80 this year that you qualify for the shot in the current phase, this woman was told her mother does not quality.
680 NEWS reached out to the Ministry of Health and was told individuals who will be turning 80 or older this year and wish to make an appointment should book online.
A spokesperson says the ministry is also working with the province, consumer services, and call centre partners to ensure eligibility criteria for individuals looking to book an appointment is clearly understood and communicated.
Some of those who were successful in their attempts to book an appointment shared their excitement on social media.
My in-laws (with the help of their doting son) both got COVID-19 vaccine appointments for next Tuesday at City Hall. I can't believe how happy and relieved I am! #ottnews
— JOANNE CHIANELLO (@JCHIANELLO) March 15, 2021
Some of Ontario’s 34 public health units have already established their own systems for booking vaccination appointments, but the provincial portal will either enhance or replace those setups in many areas.
The province reported Monday that a total of 1,191,553 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given out in Ontario so far.
OHA, province’s science table point to 3rd wave
Even as the vaccination drive ramps up, some regions of the province are still dealing with a spike in new COVID-19 cases.
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) said Monday that the province is now in the third wave of infections, citing data from a science advisory group that shows virus variant cases increasing and the number of patients in intensive care trending up.
The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table backed that claim, saying new data shows variants of concern are now driving pandemic growth, accounting for 733 of 1,489 total cases on March 15.
We’re now in wave 3: New data from Ont.'s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. W/new VOC cases steeply rising & ICU #s trending up (nearing 350 today), strong adherence to public health measures is urgently needed to prevent overwhelming hospitals: https://t.co/bY90oTlDMz pic.twitter.com/hYl8twUhRs
— Ontario Hospital Association (@OntHospitalAssn) March 15, 2021
But the province’s top doctor said Ontario “could be going into” a third wave but the extent of it is still developing.
“You can always tell you’re in it after it’s over,” Dr. David Williams said. “I would say we are into that base of a third wave. What does that mean, how big it is, that’s to be determined.”
The Premier said he’s always mindful of what the province’s science advisory table has to say, noting that Ontario “can’t let our guard down for one second.”
Sarnia-Lambton moved into the “Grey-Lockdown” stage of the province’s colour-coded pandemic response framework on Monday following a spike in local infections.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley wrote to Ford Monday, asking that in the future, any region moved into lockdown by the province should be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, Ford confirmed Monday that the head of Ontario’s vaccine task force, retired Gen. Rick Hillier, will be leaving the job when his contract expires on March 31.
Ontario reported 1,268 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and nine more deaths linked to the virus.
With files from The Canadian Press
