Some Albertans struggled to book COVID-19 shots as the province’s fall immunization campaign opened to the general public on Monday.
By late afternoon, Health Link had been flooded with more than 10,000 calls related to the COVID vaccine alone and a spokesperson for Primary Care Alberta confirmed the provincial health information phone line was facing extremely high call volumes.
Booking for phase one of the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program, which offered free shots to some high risk groups, began on Sept. 29. Those groups include people with underlying medical conditions, those living in care homes, health care workers, seniors receiving the Alberta Seniors Benefit and people experiencing homelessness.
Phase two, which offers the COVID vaccine for a $100 fee to all other Albertans six months of age and older, began on Monday. Flu shots, which continue to be free, also became available to the general public.
The immunization campaign kicked off as the province faces ongoing criticism from doctors and scientists for opting to charge the vast majority of people for the COVID vaccine.
“It just seems like it’s a complete mess,” said Elizabeth Smythe, a senior living in Edmonton.
Already frustrated that all seniors are not included among the high risk groups eligible for publicly funded COVID shots, she tried to book her vaccine through the provincial online portal as soon as she became eligible on Monday.
However she was unable to find any available appointments. So she called Health Link and, after waiting on the phone, she received a message that no one was available to help and the call ended.
“How dare you try and make it hard for me to get vaccinated? This is a sensible, cost effective way to protect our health care system and keep people like me healthy,” said Smythe.
Roadblocks for parents
Airdrie mother Cyrena Raymond-Fauteux also encountered trouble when she tried to book appointments for herself and her four-year-old child first thing Monday morning.
Appointments for children under 12 can’t be booked online and have to be booked through Health Link, according to the provincial government website.
But Raymond-Fauteaux called several times and was unable to get through.
“I do think that they’ve made this a barrier to get these vaccines. I think they are not making it a priority,” she said.
She’s particularly worried that parents are having problems booking appointments for their children and she believes they should have been eligible sooner.
“It’s difficult to have to wait. It’s difficult to understand that we’re going to be having to pay for it. And it’s frustrating that they didn’t anticipate the surge in calls and have a plan for this,” she said.
Thousands call Health Link
In a statement emailed to CBC News, Primary Care Alberta said it is experiencing extremely high call volumes due to both the fall immunization campaign and avian influenza.
As of noon Monday, Health Link had received 10,346 calls regarding COVID-19 immunization, and 1,458 calls for the flu vaccine.
“Albertans are encouraged to try calling back later or to book their fall immunization appointments online at primarycarealberta.ca/immunize,” spokesperson Nicole Merrifield said.
“Health Link has brought in all available staff and extended hours to increase the ability to respond to Albertans. Extended staff coverage is scheduled for the rest of the week and will continue as needed.”
Merrifield said calls are taking longer during this phase of the rollout because there are more family bookings. She said group bookings are no longer available online and must be booked individually.
Merrifield was not aware of any problems with the online booking system beyond the volume.
“Primary Care Alberta continues to add appointments to our busiest public health clinics to meet the demand for immunization bookings,” she said.
“We continue to monitor the activity and will adjust staffing levels at both Health Link 811 and in public health clinics as we are able.”
Meanwhile Raymond-Fauteaux said she’s pleased to hear thousands of Albertans have been calling in and trying to book.
“I think that that speaks to the people of Alberta as a whole, that we are interested in getting vaccinated and we would like to show the government … that they do need to make this a priority [and] they should be removing barriers like the cost,” she said.
“Making it a difficult process to just book your vaccine is just a whole added layer.”
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