PUBLIC SAFETY

NY COVID-19 vaccine site opens in Southern Tier, but frustrations grow over faulty website

A mass vaccination site at the Binghamton University property in Johnson City was taking scheduling shots for some lucky residents, but all appointments seemed to be gone by Friday afternoon.

Jeff Murray
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

A New York state-operated COVID-19 regional mass vaccination site in Broome County was accepting appointments Friday, but people are already running into the same issue others around the state are experiencing — a website overloaded with people trying to get in line for their first dose of the shot.

The news comes a day after state officials said they voided appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at six state sites that were not yet open, after a website link to schedule the appointments was prematurely made public.

Among those sites was a Binghamton University property at 1 Gannett Drive in Johnson City, near Walmart. BU recently purchased the former Gannett Central New York Production Facility, which printed several USA TODAY Network newspapers. 

By Friday afternoon, some people trying to book appointments at the Broome County site were getting a message that appointments were no longer available.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said Friday the state's expected share of COVID-19 vaccines will shrink next week to 250,000 doses from 300,000 amid federal officials' failures to deliver on pledges to boost supplies.

These tents set up on Binghamton University property near Walmart in Johnson City will soon be used to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for Southern Tier residents.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar announced on his Twitter account Friday morning that the state was now making appointments at the Johnson City site, and provided a link to a website where people cluld register to get the vaccine.

Trouble scheduling a COVID vaccine in NY? You're not alone. Here's what to know.

More:NY says 'unauthorized' COVID vaccine appointments were made. Here's where they were voided

However, multiple readers responded the link was not working, and many were getting error messages, including a page that read, "Due to high volume, this site is temporarily unavailable. Please be patient and try again later."

"After enduring the pandemic for so many months, constituents are calling my office who are angry, frustrated and scared," New York Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo said. "This is leading to panic and what can only be described as ‘the vaccine hunger games,’ pitting people against one another in an often futile attempt to get an appointment anywhere they can."

Among people who ran into problems was Vestal native Jennifer Sullivan, who now lives in northern Virginia but spent much of Friday trying to sign up her elderly parents, who still live in the area.

"I was able to get to the site that shows locations. When I clicked on the Binghamton site, it said 'site unavailable,'" said Sullivan, who added she has a background in technology. "I know the site is overwhelmed. I kept refreshing the page. I was surprised there were so many pages to click through."

Sullivan said she made it as far as the confirmation page, but has no idea if she was successful in registering her father or not.

The governor's office didn't respond with a comment regarding the website difficulties by mid-afternoon Friday.

 The Johnson City location is one of 13 state-run COVID-19 vaccination sites being set up and the only one in the Southern Tier.

"There’s plenty of blame to go around," Lupardo said. "starting with the federal government’s failure to establish a national strategy, leaving states to figure it out on their own.

"Given the fact that we are receiving just 300,000 doses per week for 7 million eligible New Yorkers, it feels like we are setting people up to fail."

Want a COVID-19 vaccine in the Southern Tier?County-by-county look at what's happening

Vaccinations are also available at county-run sites, hospitals and pharmacies, although some county officials are reporting they aren't getting adequate supplies of vaccine in a timely manner.

The link to make appointments for vaccination at any of the state-run sites is am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.

NY vaccine appointment error

Besides the Johnson City site, the other facilities with canceled appointments were the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica; the University at Buffalo South Campus; Plattsburgh International Airport; SUNY Potsdam and Stony Brook University on Long Island.

So since those sites are not yet accepting appointments, the state nullified any made through the unauthorized link this week. The state did not say how many appointments were made nor did it detail how the link got out.

"It has come to our attention that an unpublished scheduling link was shared without authorization on social media this week," Marcy Stevens, general counsel for the state Office of Information Technology Services, said in a statement Thursday night. 

As a result, she said, it allowed "some New Yorkers to make vaccine appointments for state-operated sites that are not currently open and were not taking appointments at Binghamton, Buffalo, Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Stony Brook and Utica."

She said the situation was referred to the state Inspector General's Office "out of an abundance of caution."

The mishap will only add to confusion, uncertainty and frustration around New York's ability to get vaccines out to more than 7 million people now eligible to receive one.

On Monday, the state opened eligibility to anyone age 75 and older, as well as essential workers like police, firefighters and teachers. The next day, those age 65 and older, were added, as well as those who are immunocompromised after the state gets additional guidance from the federal government.

That was in addition to health workers who had been eligible for weeks.

The slots for those now eligible to receive vaccines quickly were filling up, and it's unclear how fast the shots can even be administered.

New York is getting about 300,000 doses a week, and at the current rate, it could take more than 14 weeks just to get through those currently eligible, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned.

People who booked appointments through the unauthorized, widely shared link began receiving an email Thursday night noting their reservation had been cancelled.

“New York State has determined that you made a vaccination appointment for a state-run location through an inactive link that was shared without authorization,” the email reads.

“Your appointment is for a site that is not currently operational and is not taking reservations at this time — because the site is not currently taking reservations, your appointment and confirmation have been voided.”

How to get a COVID-19 vaccine appointment in NY

Vaccines are available through appointments at pharmacies, hospitals and local health departments.

There is also a network of state-run sites that can be booked through the state's website: iam-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.

Before Friday, five of the state-run sites had been taking appointments: at the Westchester County Center, the Javits Center in Manhattan, the State Fair Expo Center in Syracuse; SUNY Albany and Jones Beach on Long Island.

It appears they were booking appointments through April.

As of Thursday night, the state site said there were no appointments available at two of the locations: the Westchester County Center and Jones Beach.

The state announced earlier this week that more sites would be opened in the coming weeks, and the state site lists eight more planned across New York.

But none of those had been authorized to start taking appointments: Then the link was wrongly circulated — causing the state to shut down the activity and void all those appointments.

In a statement, Marcy Stevens, general counsel for the state Office of Information Technology Services, said the state is now "contacting everyone who used the unauthorized link to inform them of the situation."

She added, "As this pandemic has shown, equity and equal access are critical in distributing the vaccine and to ensure these principles are followed all unauthorized appointments have been voided."

The state also didn't detail its steps to ensure people's information isn't compromised, saying only, "We will continue to safeguard all New Yorkers' information and ensure equal access to the vaccine for everyone eligible."

Stevens added: "As a reminder, the only way to sign up for vaccinations at State-operated locations is through the Department of Health's Am I Eligible website."

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