The New York State coronavirus registration website struggled on Sunday with long waiting periods and technical issues as slots opened to people with certain basic conditions.
Many users reported problems on social networks on Sunday morning, while a lot of people flooded the “I am the eligible tool” of the State Department of Health. The problems seem to ease as the day goes on.
“The good news: the NY State website is updated with the option of the basic conditions for vaccine eligibility and new appointments have been added.” posted on Twitter Councilor Mark Levine, who chairs the council’s health committee.
“The bad news: the site is extremely glitchy and is collapsing because of the volume,” Levine wrote.
“This is not a good start for this new critical phase.”
A DOH State spokesman said the agency’s screening tool and programming site were “working extremely well”, with an average of 350 booked appointments per minute starting Sunday afternoon.
As of 1 p.m., more than 876,000 people had used the “Eligible Instrument I Am,” with more than 100,000 appointments booked, the agency said.
“As expected, the site is experiencing an extraordinary amount of volume after meetings were opened for New Yorkers with comorbidities and basic conditions this morning,” DOH spokesman Gary Holmes said in a statement. .
But the agency acknowledged that the number of people who can schedule meetings simultaneously at each site is limited to balance the burden on the system caused by increased demand.
Once this number is reached, users are sent to “online waiting rooms” which keep their place online, before being admitted to the programming system on a “first come, first served” basis.
If both the scheduling system and the waiting room are full, the DOH urged people to come back later and continue to try to reserve a slot as new meetings are launched throughout the day.
Some users have reported waiting times of 20 to 40 minutes or other errors.
“The NY website is a disaster,” said one person commented on Twitter. “I managed to register until the end and then I was blocked after I clicked on confirmation.”
Another wrote: “I waited for a @ virtual line for an hour, then received ‘no meeting available’.”
“This is BULLSHIT! The state had months to put this together. I tried EVERY DAY! (before 08:00), ” said a user. “It’s not nice and it’s not a joke. Solve it! ”
Others asked for patience and suggested using a Chrome browser instead of Safari.
“I provided a vaccine for my mother that has one of the underlying conditions. The site is messy, but patiently I hope people can get their dates too! ” someone tweeted.
Another SAPS: “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 resorted to the Byzantine network of the state and the city of registration pages to get the photo.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo previously announced that New Yorkers with certain basic conditions will be eligible for the vaccine beginning Feb. 15.
The state screening tool and scheduling site were launched a day earlier to allow people to start searching and booking their appointments.
The new appointments will be released continuously in the coming weeks, the state said.
Starting next week, local health departments will start receiving vaccine allocations for people with comorbidities.
People must prove that they are eligible using a doctor’s letter, medical information proving comorbidity or a signed certification.
The list of eligibility conditions is:
- Cancer (current or 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 disease associated with 9/11
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome
- Heart disease, including, but not limited to, heart failure, coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy, or hypertension (hypertension)
- Immunocompromised condition (weakened immune system) including but not limited to transplantation of solid organs or transplantation of blood or bone marrow, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other drugs to weaken immunity or other causes
- Severe obesity (BMI> or = 40 kg / m2), obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg / m2 or higher, but <40 kg / m2)
- Task
- Sickle disease or Thalassemia
- Type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- 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