Riverside County is changing its website for scheduling coronavirus vaccination appointments after numerous complaints from residents who said the site crashed or did not schedule an injection after filling out online forms.
The announcement came hours after a consultation window, which started at noon on Thursday, January 21, closed after just 32 minutes for six county-run clinics scheduled for the next few days in Perris, Lake Elsinore and Indio. Almost 4,000 consultations were scheduled, one for each vaccine dose available. Last week, more than 11,000 consultations were completed in less than two hours on Friday, January 15.
A new link to the site will be announced shortly, county officials said late Thursday afternoon in a press release.
For many, it has been a struggle to access the county website. They accessed social media and e-mail to report bugs on the site and reported filling out forms only to find that there were no appointments available.
“It was like trying to buy concert tickets with the site crashing, constantly reloading, and finally logging in just to fill in all my information and find out that all appointments were scheduled,” wrote Kathleen Orr, 49, Riverside resident and 8th grade teacher year of elementary school, who tried to get an appointment at noon.
She added: “I don’t know any teacher who got an appointment today, when the new locations were opened.”
Gary Dailey, a 69-year-old Riverside man, sought an appointment through the county website and also through the Albertsons pharmacy.
“I love the (county) site setup, if you’re lucky enough to get on the site,” he said sarcastically by email. “I love to repeatedly fill out the forms until I reach the end, where I really make an appointment, only to find that there is none, or better yet, the steam site blocks and you have to start all over again.”
In the statement, county officials blamed “a technical problem with the website code (which) was discovered at the time”, the nomination window opened.
“Unfortunately, when many residents tried to visit the consultation website, they saw a timeout screen,” the statement said.
“Residents are understandably frustrated because the nomination website did not work today,” said county provisional executive officer Juan C. Perez in the statement. “Although we worked with our supplier to ensure that it was operational today, unfortunately, it was not. Frankly, this is unacceptable. We apologize for this unfortunate situation and will soon be directing residents to a new website. “
Riverside County officials also reminded residents that there are other options besides the county, such as doctors, pharmacies and emergency care clinics, but emphasized that the demand for injections exceeds the supply.
In an email to a constituent, Jeff Greene, chief of staff for Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, wrote that part of the problem was Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement that counties could start offering the vaccine to people with 65 or older – “we don’t have anything close to enough vaccine supplies to fill that need. “
“The previous plan with levels and phases had its own frustrations and confusions, but at least it was designed to qualify smaller groups at once, so that the system was not overloaded,” wrote Greene.
“This week, we only had 3,900 total doses available for the county, and those consultations disappeared in half an hour (Thursday), with the system crashing completely for many / most / all unsuccessful candidates … The county bought capacity significant extra bandwidth for this week, but the site vendor apparently had other problems that contributed to the site crash. “
Another problem, Greene wrote, is the state website used to complete registration.
“Our own website is simply directing people to the state-run CALVAX.org system,” he wrote. “And not only does their platform fail regularly, but they are also responsible for the very frustrating process that doesn’t say there’s no space available until you submit all of your information, unlike a private sector ticket website that maintains your place while you fill out the form.
Riverside County has no control over this and other counties are seeing the same problem, he said.
San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said users of that county’s vaccination site are having trouble clicking a link that takes them to the state’s website to fill in information and make an appointment. Often, users fill out personal information pages, only to find that there are no hours available, he said.
The county is so frustrated, added Wert, that he is considering creating his own online booking system, although it takes a considerable amount of time and money.
Riverside County officials also said that when nominations open on his new website, he will still have a link to the state’s vaccine registration portal. If all consultations are scheduled when filling out the state’s registration, residents will not be able to schedule an appointment, the statement said.