DC vaccine sign-ups plagued with technical problems

COVID-19 vaccination sign-ups in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning ran into technical problems, causing frustration for people trying to secure appointments on the first day of eligibility for people under 65 with underlying conditions.

The city made appointments available on Thursday for the first time for people 18 and older who have a range of underlying conditions that put them at higher risk from COVID-19, and live in priority zip codes.

But residents reported frustrating delays in getting through online. When some people got through, they reported getting messages that they were not eligible, even though they were.

The message some received appeared not to be updated to reflect the new eligibility for people with underlying conditions, saying that vaccinations were only for those over 65 or people in certain occupations.

It was a scenario familiar to most people across the country who have tried to navigate their states’ online signup systems for vaccines.

Bad timing: The confusion in DC was happening at the same time Vice President Harris was visiting a Southeast DC supermarket pharmacy to promote vaccinations and tout the administration’s retail pharmacy program which delivers vaccine doses directly to 7,000 pharmacies nationwide.