Mass. Announces Improvements To Vaccine Appointment Website
BOSTON (CBS) - Neal Dias is finishing up day two of trying to book his wife an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine. Dias said he gets close to booking a spot but runs out of time before it processes. "It was frustrating it shouldn't be like this," he said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders told CBSN Boston anchor Paula Ebben the state is working to make it so your appointment will be held while you input all your information.
"You have that little time clock which says you have like 25-30 minutes to finish the transaction so we're looking to make several improvements to the website over the next couple of weeks," Sudders said.
On Friday the state's vaccination website was up and running throughout the day. It was a different story Thursday morning when the site crashed leaving users staring at an octopus and a question mark.
When you book an appointment at a mass vaccination site you're redirected to PrepMod.
The website company's CEO Tiffany Tate says her team was not aware Massachusetts made the 65+ community eligible for appointments.
"PrepMod is not based in Massachusetts and we did not know that announcement had been made," Tate said.
"There is daily communication from the Department of Public Health with PrepMod so I don't accept that as an explanation for that part of the system crashing," said Sec. Sudders.
Winter weather delayed Massachusetts vaccination shipment for a few days. More than 135,000 doses just arrived. That means appointments at sites like Gillette Stadium will carry on without any interruptions.
"I feel much happier now that that's done," said Pauline Bariteau, who received her vaccine at Gillette. "Now just wait for the second one."
Visit Mass.Gov/CovidVaccine to find out when you're eligible and to book an appointment.
