County to change COVID-19 vaccine appointment website

The county appointment website for residents to get a reserved slot at an upcoming COVID-19 vaccine clinic will soon change. This is in response to technical issues experienced Thursday as thousands of Riverside County residents attempted to make appointments for vaccine.

A technical issue in the website code was uncovered at that time of opening 3,900 appointments for weekend vaccine clinics. Unfortunately, when many residents attempted to visit the appointment website, they saw a timeout screen.

On Wednesday, the County announced it had received 26,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine this week to distribute among community partners and further announced that appointments were available.

Of this week’s allocation, 3,900 doses will be used for six additional county-run vaccine clinics. Supply of vaccine continues to be limited and demand for vaccine high.

The County announced that registration would be available Thursday (Jan. 21) at noon for six upcoming COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Lake Elsinore, Perris and Indio planned for people in Phase 1A (all tiers), 1B (tier 1), which includes individuals 65 and older.

“Residents are understandably frustrated that the appointment website did not perform today,” said Juan C. Perez, Interim County Executive Officer. “While we worked with our vendor to ensure it would be operational today, unfortunately, it was not. Frankly, that’s unacceptable. We apologize for this unfortunate situation and will soon direct residents to a new website.”

A new link will be announced soon for residents to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations.

When appointments are open, the new county site will continue to link to the state’s vaccine registration portal. Please note that if all appointments are booked when completing the state’s registration, users will not be able to secure a time.

Image Sources

  • Appointment calendar: Shutterstock