Salt Lake County residents frustrated with problems registering COVID-19 vaccine

The Salt Lake County Department of Health’s online registration for COVID-19 vaccinations had major problems on Wednesday morning, leaving older residents and their families frustrated and unhappy.

When the registry opened on Wednesday, “tens of thousands of people simultaneously tried to upload the Salt Lake County Health Department’s COVID vaccination registration form; I couldn’t handle that volume, ”county officials wrote in a statement. “After working quickly with the system programmer, the form was ready and making reservations before 9 am”

By 10 am, 15,042 people had signed up for 30,000 vacancies, according to the statement. There are approximately 70,000 residents aged 70 and over in Salt Lake County.

“This number of consultations is based on the number of doses we are told we can expect to receive,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson in the statement.

“We appreciate your patience. The health department will continue to work with the system programmer to prevent such problems in the future,” says the statement.

The assault bothered residents waiting for access to the vaccine.

“It’s been very problematic,” said Jen Kious, a Salt Lake City resident. “I have been looking forward to trying to vaccinate my two 80-year-old parents. I woke up at 8 am and it didn’t work. “

Kenneth Sperling said that filling in most of the online form was “straightforward”, but “the problem is that when you go down to the bottom and click on the record, he says, ‘Select the date of the visit’. There is no box on the form for a visit date. “

“You fill in everything, you click send and you’re stuck in cyberspace,” he said.

Kious had the same problem and others. She said she forgot to enter her parents’ gender and was flagged – and when she tried to add, all other information she had previously entered was deleted.

Kious said he saw changes to the page while trying to register. “They are clearly trying to fix it.”

In a subsequent registration attempt, she said, the request for a visit date came before the rest of the form, “but then when we reached the end and clicked register, he gave an error statement saying, ‘Maximum number for this meeting . ‘ Obviously, this gave us times that were already full. “

When she tried a different date, she received a message saying that she had already registered. “So, actually, I don’t know if I’m registered or not. …. I have the utmost respect for the public health department. They worked hard during this pandemic. I would not like to criticize them. But it is very frustrating because I have tried so hard to protect my parents. “

Diane Orr said the process has not been “clear” for seniors trying to register. “I’m 76, but I’ve been trying to help people in their 80s. Everyone tried to call this morning, but, of course, it’s busy. “

She directed the seven octogenarians to the county website, but they faced the same problems. “People are puzzled. You fill out the form and there is no information on where to go from there, ”said Orr. “I would like to see people – especially in this age group – not be confused by all of this.”

Sperling said he managed to register around 9:15 am; Orr said that she continued to have problems until noon.

John Keahey, a former Salt Lake Tribune employee, faced similar problems. “When I finished the form, he would tell me that the time I selected was not available,” he said. “I came back two or three times in response to ‘not available’ messages and when I selected the third, the form went away. I don’t know if I’m registered or not. No indication. “

Keahey said he believes he was able to register for a subsequent attempt shortly before 10 am, “but in the confusion, I did not register the date I finally chose that was accepted” – a problem that Kious also encountered. Keahey expects the county health department to send reminders via email.

• “Terrible planning for this. They should have known that thousands of people would like to register for the vaccine, but the form doesn’t work and the phone number just gives a busy signal. “

• “I am elderly and have serious chronic heart disease. Do it better.”

• “Just praying it would work.”

• “It’s a complete mess. I hoped that Salt Lake County would be better prepared. “

Vaccine schedules seemed generally chaotic across the state on Wednesday morning. The Department of Health’s Weber-Morgan website did not open at all.

The Bear River Department of Health website said its first clinic for patients aged 70 and over will be on January 14 – before the state’s January 18 start date – but the clinic was full and the department wasn’t planning announce more vaccination dates on Wednesday.

The Utah county website said it would start scheduling vaccinations for 70-year-olds by 6 pm Wednesday – but below that ad was a link to a vaccine clinic over 70 that was already taking place on Wednesday , which was also full.

The Utah Central Department of Health posted a link to register a vaccine, but it requires a registration code to proceed, and no registration code was immediately visible on the website.

The Southeast Utah Department of Health posted a link to a vaccination program, stating that all appointments had been completed on Wednesday morning.

Health departments in Tooele County and the Tri-County area of ​​northeastern Utah have directed site users to the state’s general vaccine information page, which does not allow patients to schedule vaccines. The San Juan County Department of Health website, listed by Google as having an expired safety certificate, also linked to the state’s website.

Only in Wasatch County, which scheduled appointments by phone, and in Summit County, which scheduled by email, attempts to schedule the vaccine have not reached a dead end.

Tribune will update this developing story.