Yesterday's (March 8) first day of booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments in B.C. was a nightmare for most of the province.
Northern Health says the authority booked appointments for 1,007 eligible seniors with a goal of administering as many as 15,000 doses through clinics in Phase Two of its immunization plan.
Those aged 90 years or older, and Indigenous persons 65 years of age or more, were officially able to be scheduled for their vaccines, but other health authorities outside of the north hit major roadblocks.
Surprisingly, Vancouver Coastal Health recorded only 369 appointments, which prompted frustrations and anger among thousands, with callers being greeted with dropped calls and long wait times.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix addressed the situation this morning (March 9), saying Telus, the telecommunications provider, 'failed us.'
“Vancouver Coastal Health was fully dependent on our call centre provider to provide services based on the contract they had signed with us and the promises they repeatedly made about being prepared. That contractor, the provider, Telus, failed us yesterday,” Dix said in the provincial legislature.
“For that failure, a lot of people wasted time, and I think lost some confidence in the system — confidence that we'll have to work hard to rebuild at every level in terms of both technical issues that affected all health authorities and staffing issues.”
Dix revealed on Monday that 1.7 million calls were placed to call centres throughout the province within the first three hours of lines opening up at 7 a.m.
“The contractor, the provider, Telus, did not meet its contractual obligations and let down people over 90 and let down Indigenous people over 65,” Dix said, referring to the two groups of British Columbians currently eligible to book appointments.
“It is unacceptable. We are taking steps, of course, to beef up our ability to work and to support independently of Telus, and Telus has made commitments that these questions will be resolved — the technical questions and the staffing questions — ASAP. But we are not simply counting on that. If they are not resolved, other actions will have to be taken.”
BC seniors aged 80+ and Indigenous peoples aged 65+ will be able to book their vaccine appointment in March, following our age-based booking schedule. Reach out to someone in your life who is eligible and help them get vaccinated. Learn more: https://t.co/Q3MCaiuaHh pic.twitter.com/Ac0bvBHMga
— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) March 9, 2021
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Monday urged the provider to “step up” amid the bottlenecks.
"We know how crucial the vaccine roll-out is for British Columbia and we are sorry for the frustrations that British Columbians have experienced trying to connect to call centres. The provincial government and health authorities asked us to support them and we have let them down,” the Vancouver-based telecom giant said in a statement.
“We can and will do better, and we will make this right. Our team has been working overnight to respond to the significant demand and scale capacity by adding hundreds of additional agents. We will ensure that all eligible British Columbians are able to book their vaccine in the timeframe set out by the province."
About 82,000 British Columbians are currently eligible to book — 47,000 people 90 years old or above, and 35,000 Indigenous people 65 years or older — while 26,000 people in those eligible groups have already received at least one dose.
But Fraser Health is the only local health authority that rolled out an online booking platform on Monday.
The remaining four health authorities in the province were depending on call centres.
Fraser Health was able to book 8,722 appointments, Interior Health booked 2,456 while Island Health successfully booked 2,395.
Province-wide, the first day total was 14,949.
At the close of call centres today their were 14,949 #COVID19 vaccines booked.
— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) March 9, 2021
VIHA – 2,395
FHA – 8,722
IHA – 2,456
VCHA – 369
NHA – 1,007
Dix said a provincial online booking platform will be ready to launch April 12 as B.C. begins vaccinating the broader population in the coming weeks.
Details on the province’s booking platform remain sparse and officials said a week ago that more information would be made available in the coming weeks.
Family members are able to book on behalf of seniors who may not feel comfortable scheduling their vaccinations on their own.
Booking eligibility will expand to those 85 years and older by March 15, and 80 years and older by March 22.
Vaccinations for elderly British Columbians begin March 29 as the province continues to prioritize vulnerable groups and frontline health-care workers for vaccinations over the next three weeks.
When calling into your health authority, you will be asked for:
- First and last name
- Date of birth
- Postal Code
- Personal Health Number
Cell Centre hours are seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The provincial government is stressing to only call to make an appointment if it is your turn.
Those in Northern Health who are eligible are asked to call 1-844-255-7555 to book. There is only one clinic currently in operation, which is at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre.
More clinics will open as eligibility and vaccinations ramp up.
- with files from Tyler Orton, Business In Vancouver
