Editor’s Note: This story replaces one posted earlier in the day that incorrectly described the DPH vaccine appointment booking phone system as “crashing.” Rather, according to DPH, it had staffed the phone bank with some people who were not yet trained.
The Georgia Department of Public Health’s main phone line for booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday could not help callers at several times on Friday, with people seeking vaccinations being told to try back in 24 to 48 hours.
As Georgia’s biggest week yet of mass vaccination wound up, the hitches added to the difficulties that state officials and those wishing to be vaccinated have had in ensuring that as many Georgians as possible are vaccinated as quickly as possible.
One person answering phones at the call bank Friday apologized and said they were “working on resolving these issues.”
However, a spokeswoman for the department said they knew of no issues at all, except new people being trained on the DPH phone system. Those individuals do not yet have access to the system to schedule appointments, said DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam.
“The site did not crash, people have made appointments online and through the phone line all day,” Nydam, said in an email.
Some callers got a different message, though.
For the fifth day, metro Atlanta resident Devin Porter spent a chunk of time away from work trying to make an appointment to get vaccinated. He was already wait-listed by email and still had no time slot. So he calls.
Twice on Friday, he says, the state DPH phone bank helpers told him the system was down and they could not access his information.
“They said they didn’t have access to their scheduling database. They couldn’t even search for availability,” Porter said.
The third time, Porter said, the person answering the phone told him she could look him up and search for appointments. But the result was the same: No shot in the area he wanted, metro Atlanta.
A reporter also called the phone line after Porter’s calls. A friendly call banker answered.
“I do apologize, I’m unable to assist you with your request today,” she said, appearing to be reading from a script. “We are working on resolving these issues. You can call us back at 888-457-0186 in 24 to 48 hours and we can try again to assist you.”
On a later call, a phone bank staffer told the reporter the system was working but there were no available appointments.
Friday’s issues did not appear to affect the state DPH’s online booking system. And problems with DPH’s booking do not affect the other statewide booking system, for nine mass vaccination sites run by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
But the phone line that frustrated some callers Friday is particularly important for people without regular computer access or without good computer skills.
Mass vaccination is urgent because of new variants of the virus coming, as Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky emphasized in a press briefing Friday. They showed a graphic demonstrating Israel’s success beating back even the newer, more dangerous, variants of the virus. It was likely because of Israel’s speed in getting large numbers of people vaccinated, the data indicated.
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