Walgreens issued an apology statement on Monday after their online COVID-19 vaccine and testing appointment scheduler suffered a "temporary outage."
"Today we experienced a temporary outage of some of our web applications, including the appointment scheduler for COVID-19 vaccinations and testing," Walgreens said in a statement. "The issue has now been fixed, and we apologize to our customers and patients for any inconvenience."
Users reported being placed in a "virtual waiting room" as they tried to schedule an appointment at the store.
Walgreens has said it has administered nearly 55 million COVID-19 vaccines and more than 22 million COVID-19 tests throughout the country.
The current wait times for results can be anywhere from 24 to 48 hours for PCR results, and rapid tests are returned within 24 hours.
“We remain committed to meeting the needs of our customers and patients and are doing all we can to support our communities during this critical time,” John Standley, Walgreens' president, said in a statement. “With heightened demand for COVID vaccines, testing and other services, in addition to the busy holiday season, our pharmacy and store team members are working incredibly hard every day. We ask that our customers please show patience and understanding as together, we continue to navigate the evolving pandemic environment.”
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The web outage occurred while the company was "seeing unprecedented demand for related testing and vaccine services and products." The availability of appointments varies by location and time.
Last week, Walgreens, among other major retailers, placed a four-item limit on the purchase of at-home COVID-19 testing kits in stores and online. These restrictions come as the United States has seen a large rise in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.
President Joe Biden said last week that his administration will be purchasing 500 million at-home tests that will be made free and available to the public starting next month. The free tests will be available online and can be delivered to your home.
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