Vaccination booking ‘chaos’ on City of Hamilton hotline

Despite it being 2021, booking a COVID-19 vaccine appointment on Hamilton's hotline Monday morning resembled trying to get tickets to see the hottest band at Copps Coliseum in 1999.

I dialed the number, 905-974-9848 for the first time at 8 a.m. sharp.

After one hour of sitting by the phone, I had hit redial 138 times.

One of the lucky ones, 33-year-old Laney Haverkamp started calling at 7:59 a.m. and finally booked a vaccine appointment at FirstOntario Centre at 11:55 a.m.

There were definitely some tears" when she finally got through, Haverkamp said.

Before she started calling, the L9K resident tried the provincial portal without success.

What happened is Ontario designated two Hamilton postal codes prefixes, also known as forward sortation areas, as hot spots. The City of Hamilton expanded upon that with three more postal codes, but they were not added to the provincial portal and are only accessible by phone.

So, on the weekend when Hamilton surprised millennials and Gen Zs by expanding vaccine eligibility to include everyone over 18 in hot spot neighbourhoods, residents living in L9C and L8W were told they could book online, but those living in L8L, L8N and L9K got out their hippest band shirt and tragically started calling the city all at the same time.

Unlucky callers hit hundreds of busy signals, notices that the number doesn't exist," and a lengthy phone message asking the caller to please stay on the line" only to then warn that they are experiencing a high volume of calls" and then hang up.

Those who broke through listened to the several-minutes-long message and then were put on hold to wait to speak to a city representative.

Unsurprisingly, the message warns callers against abusive or disrespectful" language. No doubt, the city staff who are tirelessly working the phone lines deserve our respect and gratitude for the never-ending bombardment of calls.

Like me, Haverkamp sat through the phone message a number of times hoping she wouldn't get kicked off again." Now she's just glad the chaos" is over.

She has a nine- and seven-year-old learning online and a three-year-old at home. With her first appointment booked for Wednesday, her second appointment - also booked - will take place just before the kids head back to school in September.

After hundreds of calls, I too broke through at 3:20 p.m. And 20 minutes later, I have an appointment booked for Friday.

For those still looking to book a shot, try to follow advice from the city: Please be patient."

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com