NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York State’s COVID-19 vaccination scheduling system was overwhelmed Sunday when eligibility opened up to 3 million more residents with comorbidities and underlying health conditions.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced that New Yorkers will pre-existing health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, lunch conditions, kidney disease and more, could begin scheduling appointing beginning Sunday morning.
“Our vaccine supply is going up, the positivity rate is going down and we're getting one step closer to winning the war against COVID each day,” the governor said in a statement. “The numbers show that we're moving in the right direction, and to maintain this trajectory we must win the footrace between vaccinating New Yorkers as quickly and fairly as possible and keeping the infection rate down.”
However, when the “Am I Eligible” website began to allow people with comorbidities to schedule their appointments at 8 a.m., many received notifications telling them to try again later.
Others say they were forced to wait hours before they could get through to the scheduling center.
WEB EXTRA: See the list of comorbidities eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine
James Solomon, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, says he and his wife were persistent and got lucky.
“My wife, what she did, she put the cellphone and just leave it laying there on the couch with it on speaker phone and finally someone finally would come around and she would answer it. She got through,” he tells WCBS 880’s Sean Adams.
The state health department notes there were 350 appointments scheduled per minute online on Sunday.
To be eligible, residents must have a signed letter from a doctor stating their underlying health conditions.
Even though vaccine supplies are getting a 20% boost from the federal government, demand is still far greater with around 10 million New Yorkers now eligible to receive their shot.
In fact, appointments are so scarce that some people from Long Island have even taken to driving six hours away to get their vaccines.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran says the demand is far too overwhelming and the county is working on a pre-registration portal so that people can put their information into the system and receive a call back when an appointment becomes available.
“This new pre-registration portal will be must less frustrating – that was out intention – than people having to refresh their browser all the time,” she said.
Curran says the pre-registration appointments will be for all three county run sites.
“We’re hoping to get this out in the next few days,” Curran said. “Our IT department is finalizing the system and the details.”