Vaccine demand overwhelms systems
County to schedule another round of appointments today
A ‘Silver Tsunami’ hit Beaumont Health’s server over the weekend.
On a normal day Beaumont Health might get 900 requests on its website to sign up for its my Beaumont Chart account. However, after Friday’s announcement that it would be vaccinating people age 65 and older, the system became overwhelmed with requests from seniors looking to schedule an appointment.
“In the health care information technology space, having thousands of patients trying to register at once is unprecedented and our servers were maxed out. It’s similar to what happens when people try to purchase concert tickets as soon as they go on sale and everyone cannot get through at the same time,” Hans Keil, Beaumont Health chief information officer, noting they were able to recover quickly. “I’m proud we more than tripled our capacity so quickly. We are rapidly working to add even more.”
Beaumont’s move to schedule vaccines for those considered the most vulnerable to COVID-19 came after the governor’s announcement last week
that the state would be entering Phase 1B of vaccine administration. It will include teachers and Michiganders age 65 and older; frontline essential workers including police officers, first responders, frontline state and government federal workers and jail and prison staff.
Almost 1 million Beaumont patients have myBeaumontChart, a secure online health portal that connects people with their health records, medical test information and appointments. Over the next few months, Beaumont will email personal invitations to patients via myBeaumontChart to schedule an appointment when they become eligible for the vaccine based on the state’s criteria and as doses become available.
Other hospitals are doing the same.
“While McLaren Health Care is simultaneously vaccinating health care workers
and caring for patients battling critical COVID-19 complications at record levels, we are committed to the health of the communities we serve and are very pleased the time has come to broaden vaccination efforts in the state of Michigan,” according to a statement from the McLaren COVID-19 Task Force.
As of Monday, My McLaren Chart portal began sending out its invitations.
Walk-in vaccinations are not available at this time and the public is asked not to call the hospital about scheduling a vaccination, as the overwhelming demand can interrupt care that other patients need.
“While we are moving with all haste to vaccinate as many individuals as safely and efficiently as possible, we urge patience and understanding in our communities at the complexity of this massive, highly coordinated effort, in the midst of our continued fight against the virus,” McLaren officials said in a statement.
Henry Ford Health System is also in the process
of finalizing its plans to expand its vaccination program to seniors along with others who meet the state’s expanded guidelines.
“We expect to begin providing vaccinations as early as today at one Detroit site, with plans to open additional sites by the end of this week,” said a statement from Henry Ford Health System.
“We will soon reach out proactively to our eligible patients to provide resources to help them make an informed decision, as well as encourage them to sign up for a MyChart account if they don’t already have one, for convenient online scheduling when appointments become available. More details will be released as they are finalized.”
Ascension Michigan, which operates Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, has administered 20,000 vaccinations. It was the first in Macomb County to offer the Pfizer vaccine.
“In our first phase of vaccinations, Ascension Michigan has been able to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 20,000 of our frontline healthcare associates and doctors, community healthcare partners and medical first responders. We continue to implement a comprehensive vaccine administration plan consistent with federal and state guidance,” a statement provided by a hospital spokesperson said Monday. “In alignment with the state, Ascension Michigan is currently planning community vaccination clinics and will begin initially reaching out to schedule our patients age 65 and older as vaccine supply becomes available. Appointments will be required. We’ll share more information about vaccine availability and appointment procedures with our communities as they are available.”
Macomb County’s hotline for vaccination appointments was also hit.
Once word got out Thursday that it had a dedicated telephone line to schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments it too became inundated with calls.
The phone line was live at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
But by then, most who called in heard a message from signal carrier Verizon saying the number was not working or a recorded message telling them they had reached the county Health Department but should call back.
Only a lucky few — 1,000 to be exact — were able to set up vaccine appointments for the coming week.
The good news is the phone lines and an additional website will open up again at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Anyone in the Phase 1B category can call 586-4638777 to schedule their first and second COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments are also being made via macombgov. However, those who go online can only schedule their first or second COVID-19 vaccination.
Still, it will be a spin of the roulette wheel.
“The supply is going to be limited and it’s going to go fast,” said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, who was surprised the governor decided to move on to the next phase considering the state has such a limited supply of vaccines.
“Our system can handle 6,000 requests online so what is available for the online appointments are going to go fast, within minutes even,” Hackel said. “Folks are going to be made and frustrated but we can only provide the supply that we’re given.”
Despite the problems created Beaumont officials said they were thrilled to see this kind of interest in the vaccine.
“Our staff will continue to monitor our systems and expand capacity as needed. The vaccine is our ticket out of this pandemic, and our Beaumont team will do whatever we can to get as many people vaccinated as possible,” Keil said.
Beaumont can vaccinate more than 3,200 people per day at the Beaumont Service Center in Southfield, and the health system plans to expand to additional sites soon. Due to state and federal guidelines for vaccine distribution it will only be vaccinating people age 65 and older. Frontline essential workers, such as teachers, who are also part of the Phase 1B group, will have to contact their employer, the county or remain patient until more appointments open up.