Long wait times and technical issues crash Victoria’s vaccine hubs across Melbourne - The Australian

People line up at testing centres across Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

Queues at Victorian vaccination hubs have reached breaking point with some people turned away and others forced to wait up to seven hours for a jab.

The state’s coronavirus hotline has also crashed for the third day in a row, and technical difficulties have forced entire booking systems offline.

It comes as the state battles to avoid a potentially highly infectious third wave, with active cases in the state growing to 45 after five new infections were recorded overnight.

People were expecting a several hour wait time to get vaccinated in Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: David Crosling

Reported yesterday: 5 new local cases and 2 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
- 21,626 vaccine doses were administered
- 56,624 test results were received

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco…
#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/p1ypBcSf3o

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 28, 2021

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Hospitals and mass vaccination centres across Melbourne experienced serious technical difficulties on Saturday morning.

St Vincent’s Hospital reported a technical outage that was impacting the process.

The hospital is currently only taking bookings, but a spokesperson said it would share another update once walk-ins were accepted.

“We were delayed opening due to technical difficulties with the booking system,” a statement from the hospital on Saturday morning read.

“Bookings only at this stage.”

Vaccine update: Our doors are now open at the Royal Exhibition Building. Thanks for your patience!

We were delayed opening due to technical difficulties with the booking system.

Bookings only at this stage. We'll share another update once we are able to open up for walk ins.

— St Vincent's (@StVincentsMelb) May 28, 2021

Huge queues caused wait times of up to seven hours for people queued at the Royal Exhibition Building, with similar issues at the Melbourne Convention Centre due to issues with the booking system.

Huge queues caused an up to seven-hour wait for people wanting a jab, including at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Picture: David Crosling

Breaking: A seven-hour wait is facing Melburnians trying to get the Pfizer vaccine at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Been told there's been a system crash. More @theheraldsunhttps://t.co/PGSc43pVk2pic.twitter.com/nIGHmp1olc

— Wes Hosking (@WesHosking) May 28, 2021

Due to the huge surge in demand for the vaccine in Victoria, the state’s coronavirus hotline also crashed for the third day in a row.

Almost 80,000 people attempted to call the hotline in the space of 15 minutes on Friday, after the government expanded vaccine eligibility to people over 40.

An extra 600 people have also been hired due to the influx of calls, but an online booking system has not yet been launched.

Despite the issues, the state has managed to break records in the number of people getting a Covid test, with 56,624 people getting checked in the past 24 hours.

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton thanked Victorians on Twitter for showing up to get tested.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all testing sites, path labs and everyone who stepped up to test. Remember, you can still test during this lockdown. Mildest of symptoms? Just test. https://t.co/3fuj39dbG4

— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) May 28, 2021

“Thank you, thank you, thank you all testing sites, path labs and everyone who stepped up to test,” he wrote.

“Remember, you can still test during this lockdown.

“Mildest of symptoms? Just test.”

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2021-05-29 01:27:00Z
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