Within hours, the vaccine launch in Vermont attracts more than 21,100 buyers

Mary Barton believes she was one of the first people to register for a Covid-19 vaccine appointment in Vermont.

Barton spent Monday morning updating the Department of Health website. When the registration link finally appeared, she clicked and reserved a place for her 80-year-old mother for Wednesday – the first day of clinics will open.

“I was so happy. I was crying,” said Barton.

His mother lives alone in Burlington. Last year, she had no close contact with Mary or any of her other 13 children.

Barton said that although his mother’s appointment on Wednesday does not change that immediately – his mother will still need a second dose of the vaccine and she will still maintain precautions – it will provide some relief for the whole family.

“We won’t be too afraid to make you sick,” said Barton.

All Vermonters aged 75 and over can now register for vaccines online and over the phone.

The Health Department launched the online registration system at around 9 am, and the call center opened about two hours later.

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By 6pm, more than 21,100 people had signed up, according to the department. This is more than 50% of the consultations available.

“It’s a great day for public health,” said Deputy Commissioner of Health, Tracy Dolan, on Monday afternoon. “Best day in the last 12 months.”

About 80 percent of the department’s vacancies were scheduled online, Dolan said, a sign that the Vermonters have responded to the state’s call to help less tech-savvy relatives with the site. The rest was scheduled over the phone – the department’s call center, with about 350 people, was open all day.

Some users encounter technical obstacles. Several people told VTDigger that they never received an email that was necessary to confirm an account on the site. Without an account, they cannot make an appointment.

Dolan said users should check their email addresses for typos when starting an account – at 11 am, the department had registered more than 500 incorrect email addresses. If registrants try again and still don’t receive the account confirmation email, she said, they should schedule by phone.

Users should also check their spam or junk folders if the confirmation message was filed incorrectly.

Others reported frustration when trying to schedule appointments for multiple friends or relatives on a single account. An e-mail address can be linked to only one account, creating problems for those who do not have an e-mail address or share an e-mail.

The Department of Health offered an alternative solution: “Create a single account and add the other person as a ‘dependent’” following the system’s requests, according to the department’s updated FAQ. There should be no limit to the number of dependents, Dolan said, but the department is asking users to limit the use of this feature to close relatives.

Some people registered using a completely separate website: Kinney Drugs, the regional pharmacy chain, is scheduling vaccination appointments at 20 of its 21 Vermont units (only Barton has been excluded). About a quarter of vaccination appointments scheduled for Monday afternoon were through the pharmacy.

The state is hiring Kinney to supply vaccines, Dolan said, and pharmacies will report the numbers to the state for tracking. “The state is overseeing all of this and we are counting everything,” said Dolan.

But the two registration systems are completely separate. Registrants must choose one or the other, said Dolan – they should not make an appointment with Kinney if they also registered on the Department of Health website, or vice versa.

Another problem is reaching the Vermonters who live at home. The state plans to work with home health agencies and emergency medical services to reach those who cannot go to a clinic, but the details for enrolling are likely to be in a few weeks, Dolan said.

If someone is unsure whether they are included in this group, Dolan said, they should contact the local home health agency or the local aging agency.

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