Getting Vaccination Appointment Still Frustrating Utah County Seniors

PROVO, Utah – Confusion and frustration in Utah County this week with the elderly trying to get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. The huge demand has crashed the system several times.

It’s obvious from the looks of the crowds at the Utah County Health Department in Provo that there is no shortage of people over 70-years old who want to get the vaccine.

Anyone trying to get the #CovidVaccine in Utah County? Some frustration and confusion after system keeps crashing @KSL5TV 5&6:30 pic.twitter.com/vwSFCylfdq

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) January 20, 2021

On Wednesday more than 1,500 of them walked through the doors to get their shots. They are the lucky ones to actually schedule an appointment on the Utah County Health Department website.

Tens of thousands of others were not so lucky.

“I go on at least a half of dozen times a day to see if there are any slots open,” said Barbara Morley who had been trying to get an appointment for herself and her husband since last Wednesday when the website went live. “Every one of [the appointments] said filled, filled, filled all the way down, and then last night the system crashed.”

Melissa Mungiguerra and her husband got so frustrated with the system that they just decided to show up in person at the health department hoping to get their name on a list but no such luck.

“It’s frustrating because you have these time frames you have to abide by and then it doesn’t work, and it’s day after day,” Mungiguerra said to KSL. “It comes up and says the events are not loading so you know the system is crashed.”

Aislynn Tolman-Hill with the Utah County Health Department said they are very aware of what is happening and the frustration people are experiencing. She added they are doing everything they can to fix the problem.

She said there are more than 40,000 seniors trying to sign up for just a few hundred spots and it’s overloading the system.

She explained the department can schedule appointments for just one week because they don’t know how many doses they are getting until the first of each week.

“Be patient we will definitely get to you,” Tolman-Hill said to KSL. “I promise we are doing our absolute best, most of us are hardly sleeping trying to make this work for you.”

Tolman-Hill said they shut the system down for two hours on Wednesday to do maintenance to help handle the demand.

“Everyone that wants a vaccine, you will get it. It may not be in the timeline you are hoping it will be,” said Tolman-Hill.

For those who did get on the schedule, the appointments were smooth sailing with very little wait time.

“It was good, we didn’t have to wait very long,” said Jain Bailey after getting her shot.

“It feels very good. I’m dreading to have to make the appointment for the second shot in a month or two,” said Jain’s husband with a laugh.

You can schedule an appointment in Utah County here.