ROCKY ROLLOUT FOR SHOTS

Huge demand snarls booking site

Technical woes cast a shadow over Alberta's first day of general COVID-19 immunization bookings after overwhelming response jammed the province's vaccine website and phone lines.

Beginning Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., vaccine eligibility expanded to 230,000 seniors born in 1946 or earlier living in the community.

But users trying to book appointments for themselves and their loved ones reported widespread problems within minutes, saying on social media they were unable to advance through the booking process.

It made for a frustrating morning for John Dys, an 82-year-old Lethbridge senior who attempted to book appointments for him and his wife starting at 8 a.m.

“The phones were already busy at 811. Then I went on the website, and I went where it says you can book an appointment, I filled all the correct information in and it comes back and tells me the information I filled in was incorrect,” Dys said.

“I'm not surprised, the way this government is treating seniors in Alberta.”

Dys has diabetes, while his wife had quadruple-bypass heart surgery in 2019.

He said the experience was so discouraging, he was no longer sure whether he would receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

At launch, more than 150,000 users tried to access the site, according to Health Minister Tyler Shandro.

By 7 p.m., 43,000 appointments had been booked, he said, with some of those appointments being fulfilled on Wednesday. The vaccine appointments included hundreds in the Calgary area.

The site will be able to handle 5,000 appointment bookings per hour moving forward, Shandro said. He added the province had made some adjustments, including adding more servers and phone operators.

Alberta Health Services said on Twitter shortly after the booking process went live they were experiencing “very high volumes” on their site, adding they anticipated the high demand.

Later in the day, Shandro said he was “disappointed” the booking system fell short of expectations and would seek answers from AHS and Telus.

“I know a lot of folks were frustrated and couldn't get through right away,” he said, adding his own family had been frustrated with the process.

“We did have the expectation this rollout would be smooth.”

But he said those glitches won't delay the current cohort of seniors from receiving two vaccinations by the end of March.

“That's not going to stop us from getting vaccines in peoples' arms,” said Shandro.

That vaccination process should pick up steam in the week of March 8 when 100 pharmacies in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton begin administering doses, says the province.

It's an effort that'll be expanded when more vaccine becomes available from the federal government, which is now shipping the province 50,000 doses a week, said Shandro.

But logistical challenges with the Pfizer-biontech vaccine will also limit access to it in pharmacies, said Margaret Wing, president of the Alberta Pharmacists' Association.

“Pharmacies were selected only in these cities due to the challenges of storage and handling requirements of the Pfizer vaccine, which can only be stored at refrigerator temperatures for five days,” said Wing.

Those pharmacies should be capable of providing 20,000 shots a week, she added.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw also took to Twitter to thank Albertans for their patience while attempting to book appointments.

Two of the appointments booked belong to the parents of Laurel Deplaedt, both 82. She managed to secure immunization slots for the pair in Medicine Hat for Wednesday and Thursday by 8:45 a.m.

“I was successful getting through the process two times,” Deplaedt said. “It was so quick, and I was very happy about that.

“I've been talking to a lot of people having trouble, too, and they 're wondering what my trick was, but I guess I just got lucky.”

Less successful was Randi Haggett, who still hadn't secured a spot for her 84-year-old grandmother in Okotoks by 10:45 a.m. after nearly three hours of attempts.

She said she could consistently access the form, but received errors before she could submit each time.

“I tried to call as well, but you can't, because it's just a fax busy line,” Haggett said. “(My grandmother) hasn't really left the house in a year. She doesn't want to take the risk, right? When you're that old, I completely understand it.”

Haggett questioned why the problems persisted when infrastructure exists for high-demand events such as large concerts.

Dave Peterson of Calgary, 74, said he, too, repeatedly tried to get a time using two computers, with no success.

He said the situation was frustrating but it “wasn't the end of the world.”

“811 has got to be the stupidest thing in the whole world. What good is a phone line that you know is going to be busy if it doesn't have a queue?” Peterson said.

“I fully appreciate that I'm in a privileged position to be able to sign up in the first place, but it does seem like a silly system.”

Calgary police advised residents to dial 811, not 911, for their bookings.

On Tuesday, Hinshaw said Alberta had tested the online system and increased staffing in preparation for the morning's demand but said hiccups were not unexpected.

“I anticipate that people will need to be patient and keep trying to get into the system, whether it's by phone or by internet,” Hinshaw said.

“We've done as much as we can to try to prepare. There will always be some challenges as we roll out an immunization program of this size.”

Vaccination bookings will be able to be made through pharmacies as well, AHS said Wednesday, with information to be shared as details become available.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said Wednesday the overloaded website contradicts previous claims by government that they were fully ready to roll out vaccines once they received an adequate supply.

“We had to know that as soon as this opportunity was opened thousands of Albertans would jump on it,” Shepherd said.

“Albertans remember that this plan was already late, lacking important details, and provided no road map to vaccinate the broader public. Even with these delays, the Kenney government has failed to produce a functional booking system.”

Shepherd called on the province to either increase booking capacity or create a staggered system to better handle demand.

As the process kicked into higher gear, the province recorded 13 more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total fatality count to 1,866.

Hospitalizations fell from 326 the previous day to 307, though the number in ICU climbed from 51 to 56.

And the province added 430 new COVID -19 cases with a testing positivity rate of 4.5 per cent — a figure that's inched up from the three per cent range last week.

I fully appreciate that I'm in a privileged position to be able to sign up in the first place, but it does seem like a silly system.