The error message encountered while booking vaccination appointments through Ontario’s new portal has been taken care of.
“The ministry had been informed that some individuals were receiving an error message during the booking process. This technical issue has now been resolved,” a Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesperson shared with Vista Newsroom.
Ontario’s vaccine booking portal went live Monday morning. The ministry says over 92,000 appointments were booked as of 3 pm Monday.
While booking appointments online, some people reported receiving an error message that their form had been “tampered with”.
The MOH says the technical issue was investigated and resolved.
Premier Doug Ford defended his government’s booking system on Monday, saying he “respectfully disagrees” that there are no glitches.
The premier added anyone having issues with booking should contact the province’s helpline at 1-888-999-6488.
Appointments have been made available to those over the age of 80 for vaccinations scheduled to begin next week. When everyone in the demographic is offered a vaccine, appointments will then be offered to those over 75, descending by five-year increments after that.
In Parry Sound, the Bobby Orr and Humphrey Arenas will be used as mass-vaccination sites.
In a message sent to the MyParrySoundNow newsroom, The Health Unit said over 1,200 people utilized either the online booking system or the Health Unit’s call centre on Monday to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
Asked to comment on the error message and busy phone lines reported on Monday the Health Unit said its Call Centre was and will continue to work at full capacity booking vaccine clinic appointments.
The statement goes on to say;
“Due to the high volume of calls we have been experiencing, some individuals were not able to get through to speak to an agent. We are also aware of some technical issues with the provincial booking system and have flagged them for the Ministry of Health who has informed us that they are working to resolve the issues.
At this time, the Health Unit would like to reassure everyone that all those who are eligible and want to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment will have an appointment booked. The Health Unit is unable to accommodate in-person bookings.”