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Many Portland-area seniors aged 70 and over encountered a very slow website and major issues on Monday as they unsuccessfully tried to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments in one from the two mass vaccination sites in the region.
Some elderly residents reported that the pages took anywhere from a few minutes to over half an hour to load. And that when they got to those pages and clicked on the available appointment times, they were told the appointments were already made. That meant they would have to start the tedious process of reloading the pages and restarting the reservation process again.
All of the online appointments available for the Oregon Convention Center and Portland International Airport Drive-Thru Clinic were taken well within the first hour, frustrating the elderly who in some cases carried complaint directly to state legislators.
Vaccination site spokesperson Tamara Hargens-Bradley acknowledged various challenges on Monday – including a mistake that allowed people to book early appointments and left others empty-handed.
“The appointment scheduling tools did not break down this morning; however, they slowed down as they approached maximum capacity: 4,800 concurrent users each, ”she said in an email Monday afternoon.
Hargens-Bradley said technicians “have fixes or are underway to improve site stability and user experience going forward” on days when appointments are open for booking in the future. .
Healthcare providers operating the Portland-area mass vaccination sites said late last week that 2,400 appointments would be available at the airport and 4,900 at the Convention Center starting at 9 a.m. on Monday. for the elderly and members of phase 1a, which mainly includes healthcare workers.
But Oregonians who got online early have been rewarded – and those who haven’t been left out.
Hargens-Bradley said the Oregon Health & Science University website mistakenly opened all 2,400 airport appointments for an 8:45 a.m. reservation. The appointments all left at 9:20 a.m., if not earlier.
“OHSU apologizes for the error and has taken steps to ensure that appointments are posted at 9 am on Mondays and Thursdays, as scheduled,” Hargens-Bradley said.
The two mass vaccination sites are operated through a joint effort of OHSU, Legacy Health, Kaiser Permanente and Providence Health & Services.
Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland and a doctor, led a legislative meeting Monday to explore how to improve the vaccination rollout in Oregon.
“Today has been a tough day for seniors in Oregon who had access to the Internet and even more difficult for those who don’t and are over 70,” said Dexter, starting the day. meeting. “The sites were confused, the systems lagged and the phone lines overwhelmed. I hear a lot of you today.
This was the fifth morning that both sites had opened appointments for booking since people aged 80 and over became eligible on February 8. Monday was the first day that residents aged 70 and over were given the green light to try and make appointments – and it created a colossal situation. traffic jam.
Demand far exceeds supply. It’s unclear how many Portland-area seniors compete for dates, but across the state about 300,000 Oregon seniors were eligible by Monday and the pool has grown by about 212,000 with the inclusion of people aged 70 to 74.
Each week the competition for dates becomes fiercer. It is expected to intensify further when next Monday more than 255,000 people aged 65 to 69 become eligible.
State officials last week said 146,000 Oregonians aged 65 and over – many of whom lived in communities and were already eligible – had received at least one vaccine.
Bill Edwards, 74, said he tried to book an appointment online three times on Monday, but every time he tried to schedule the next webpage it failed to load.
“I did it three times and gave up,” said Edwards, who lives in unincorporated Washington County. He checked the area pharmacies and called 211, but it again came empty, he said.
He plans to log in again on Thursday, next Monday and so on until he gets a date.
“If I had a date for a month from now, I would be OK,” Edwards said. But he knows that next week the squad will only get bigger and his chances will diminish.
“It’s like pouring more water into a little funnel,” he says.
State public health officials have said based on recent federal vaccine shipping allocations, they expect 75% of Oregonians 65 and over to have received a first dose in early April. . They estimate that 75% will have received a second dose in early May.
Stephanie Hooper, representing the nonprofit Age +, which advocates for seniors, testified before the legislative committee on Monday. She referred to Oregon’s modest status in administering vaccines to the elderly – third from the last, according to an analysis by The Oregonian / OregonLive last week.
She offered a list of suggestions for improvement. This includes addressing the issues created by opening up eligibility to new age groups of seniors so quickly every week before previous age groups have had a chance to plan. Hooper said the state should “suspend” people under the age of 75 from scheduling appointments until older older people have access to vaccines.
But Hooper has expressed little hope that the state will listen.
“Honestly, we and other advocates for the elderly have been offering to help and warn those responsible for these potential challenges since the start of the pandemic,” Hooper said, “but virtually none of our suggestions have been put into effect. implemented.
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– Aimee Green; [email protected]; @o_aimee
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