The New York state coronavirus vaccine registration site struggled with long waiting times and technology problems on Sunday as vacancies opened up for people with certain underlying diseases.
Many users reported problems on social media on Sunday morning, as a mass of people flooded the State Department of Health’s “Am I Eligible Tool”. The problems seemed to subside as the day progressed.
“The good news: the NY state website has been updated with the option of underlying conditions for vaccine eligibility, and new appointments have been added,” tweeted Councilor Mark Levine, who chairs the council’s health committee.
“The bad news: the site is extremely problematic and is crashing due to the volume,” wrote Levine.
“It is not a good start for this new critical phase.”
A spokesman for the State Department of Health said the agency’s screening tool and scheduling website were “working extremely well,” with an average of 350 appointments scheduled per minute on Sunday afternoon.
As of 1 pm, more than 876,000 people used the “I’m eligible” tool, with more than 100,000 appointments scheduled, the agency said.
“As expected, the site is experiencing an enormous amount of volume after consultations were opened to New Yorkers with underlying comorbidities and conditions this morning,” said DOH spokesman Gary Holmes in a statement.
But the agency admitted that the number of people who can schedule appointments at once at each location is limited to balance the load on the system caused by increased demand.
Once this number is reached, users are directed to “online waiting rooms” that maintain their place in the queue, before being admitted to the order-of-arrival scheduling system.
If the scheduling system and the waiting room are full, DOH recommends that people come back later and keep trying to book a place, as new appointments are being made throughout the day.
Some users have reported waiting times between 20 and 40 minutes or other failures.
“The NY state website is a disaster,” a person commented on Twitter. “I was able to apply and was eliminated after clicking confirm.”
Other wrote: “I waited on the ‘virtual line @ for an hour, then’ there were no appointments available ‘”.
“This is BULLSHIT! The state had months to do this. I’ve been trying ALL DAY! (since before 8 am), ” said a user. “This is not cute and it is not a joke. Fix it! “
Others asked for patience and suggested using a Chrome browser instead of Safari.
“I got a vaccine for my mother, who has one of the underlying diseases. The site is messy, but with patience I hope people will also get their appointments! ” someone tweeted.
Other said: “I had to wait 25 minutes in line using my phone’s browser, but I finally got an appointment.”
Even in the best of times, New Yorkers have long complained about the Byzantine network of state and city registration pages to get the photo.
Governor Andrew Cuomo previously announced that New Yorkers with certain underlying conditions would be eligible for the vaccine as of February 15.
The state’s screening tool and scheduling website were launched a day earlier to allow people to start looking for and scheduling their appointments.
New appointments will be released on an ongoing basis in the coming weeks, the state said.
Starting next week, local health departments will begin receiving vaccines for people with comorbidities.
People must prove they are eligible using a letter from the doctor, medical information that shows comorbidity or a signed certificate.
The list of eligibility conditions is:
- Cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11 related cancers)
- Chronic kidney disease
- Lung disease, including, but not limited to, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate to severe), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and lung diseases related to 9/11
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome
- Cardiac conditions, including, but not limited to, heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Immunocompromised condition (weakened immune system) including, without limitation, solid organ or blood or bone marrow transplantation, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other drugs to weaken the immune system or other causes
- Severe obesity (BMI> or = 40 kg / mtwo), obesity (body mass index [BMI] 30 kg / mtwo or greater, but <40 kg / mtwo)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease or thalassemia
- Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
- Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
- Neurological conditions including, but not limited to, Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
- Liver disease