The demand from London-area seniors 75 and older wanting to get their COVID-19 shot was so high Monday morning, it temporarily crashed the booking system.
The Middlesex London Health Unit and Southwestern Public Health, which use the same system to schedule vaccination appointments, announced on Friday bookings for people aged 75-79 would open this week. At the time, the health units anticipated the response would be very high and asked anyone trying to book Monday morning to be patient.
That patience turned out to be greatly needed as the online booking system went down just before 9 a.m.
"Middlesex London Health Unit experienced challenges this morning with its vaccine booking system," the health unit tweeted roughly an hour later. "We have addressed the issues and will continue to monitor the booking system closely."
At the time, the health unit said there was still a high volume of phone calls and website traffic and again asked appointment seekers for "patience and understanding."
Dr. Chris Mackie, the region's medical officer of health, later said the shutdown was partly due to bots attacking the site. He added the online system has been fixed and appointments for individuals aged 75 and up are still available.
The overwhelming demand mirrors that of the 80-plus crowd, who also crashed the booking system when vaccination appointments opened to them on March 2. The more than 5,000 available appointments that were being offered over a two-week period were snapped up in less than two hours. More than 200,000 people tried to get through using the phone booking system causing it to go down within the first half an hour.
Seniors 75 and older in London, St. Thomas, Middlesex, Elgin, and Oxford counties who want to get the shot, can book online at www.covidvaccinelm.ca or call 226-289-3560. The health units have previously encouraged seniors to use the online system, over the phone system.
-With files from Miranda Chant
#MLHU experienced challenges this morning with its vaccine booking system. We have addressed the issues and will continue to monitor the booking system closely. #LdnOnt #Middlesex /1
— MLHealthUnit (@MLHealthUnit) March 22, 2021
We are back up and running! After an hour downtime, the vaccine booking system is now up and running. Thank you for your patience. pic.twitter.com/FCECsh2U73
— Southwestern Public Health (@SW_PublicHealth) March 22, 2021