COVIDWeekly: Online vaccination booking test run declared a success

Last weekend’s pilot scheme where Barbadians over the age of 50 were able to book appointments for their COVID-19 vaccines online via an appointment portal has been declared a success.  

Co-Coordinator of the National Vaccination Campaign, Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand, told COVID Weekly, “We had allocated 300 vaccines for two sites on Saturday, April 24, and 500 for one site on Sunday, April 25, and the portal allocated these appointments in one day. So we had to close the pilot, which was supposed to run for three days (Wednesday, April 21 to Friday, April 23), after just one day.”

The pilot appointment system was set up for the administration of the first doses of the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine. 

To make an appointment, persons must not have had a positive COVID-19 test within the last three to six months, and were required to enter their personal information, including mobile number and/or email address, as well as medical information, such as allergies and non-communicable diseases, in the required fields.

Individuals could only book one appointment time slot per person, with the option to reschedule if necessary. After submitting information, they received confirmation either by email or text message (via cell phone) and had to bring confirmation of their appointment along with their identification card to the vaccination site.

When asked whether there were any glitches or other challenges associated with the pilot, Dr Ferdinand said, “Those who got the appointments via the portal came, but problems arose when word got around, and people started showing up at the centres. This caused a bit of concern and resulted in a longer wait, but everyone who showed up got vaccinated.”

Given the pilot’s success last weekend, Dr Ferdinand said the system would be used when more vaccines come into the island and when Barbados enters phase three of the vaccination campaign.

This article appears in the May 3 edition of COVID Weekly. Read the full publication here.