A Gananoque woman struggled to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for her 98-year-old grandmother.
“It was excruciating,” says Gaye Princ, as she describes the steps she took in securing a vaccine slot for her grandma. She was one of the estimated 100,000 people in Ontario who attempted to book an appointment on Monday.
“When I did finally get through to the page, I couldn’t book an appointment,” says Princ.
According to the province of Ontario, more than 75,000 people called the toll-free vaccine booking line to reach an agent on Monday and Tuesday.
“After an hour and eight minutes total on the phone waiting, I got dropped. I called KFL&A and they told me they couldn’t make any appointments,” says Princ.
She was then directed to call her grandmother’s doctor’s office for a personal invitation code to secure an appointment.
And then, Princ says, KFL&A told her that their computers crashed but the representative advised her to keep trying.
After all the frustration and challenge, Princ’s 98-year-old grandma was successfully vaccinated Wednesday night.
Princ says all the hassle was worth it, and that her grandmother is feeling secure.
“We understand that residents of KFL&A are ready and eager to receive their COVID-19 vaccine. Our phone lines at KFL&A Public Health and at local COVID-19 vaccine clinics are experiencing extremely high volumes of calls. Please do not call KFL&A Public Health or any of our area COVID-19 vaccine clinics for appointment or eligibility information. Please do not go to COVID-19 vaccine clinics without an appointment,” says KFL&A in a message on the public health unit’s website.
Health units throughout the province have reported overwhelmed phone lines and portal booking since its launch on Monday.
The system estimated a wait time of upwards of an hour within five minutes after its launch.
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