Many Granite Staters are continuing to express frustration with the system used by the state to schedule their second vaccination dose.Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday that everyone eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1B will receive the second vaccine dose within a week of the recommended date. But after massive problems with the scheduling system this week, many Granite Staters said they don’t have confidence in the system. Some called News 9 in tears, while others used profanity in their emails. Many said they don’t want to be told again to be patient.”Very frustrated. There is no place to turn,” said Neal Crossland, of Hudson. “There’s no answer, nobody out there to help you. You’re on your own.”Earlier this week, vaccine recipients were told to cancel their second appointments that were scheduled outside of the recommended timeframe. They were assured that a bevy of earlier slots would pop up on the scheduling website, only to watch other problems arise. The 211 call center then crashed.”Other states give second appointments at the same time,” said Julie Crossland, of Hudson. “Why are thousands of people waiting in line? They know we’ve gotten the first one.”Part of the problem is being attributed to the software run by the federal government called VAMS, which stands for Vaccine Administration Management System. The governor said New Hampshire opted in because the state never had the need for a large-scale vaccination system. “It’s a very clunky federal system that we have been using,” Sununu said. “We have a new system that the state is going to be implementing. We are building our own system. We are getting off the clunky federal stuff, and that will be up and running before the next phase.”Sununu said that anyone who doesn’t want to deal with the VAMS website doesn’t have to. He said the state will be calling people.”You can go in by the end of this week and move yourself up within a week of your scheduled date, and if you don’t for some reason, we will proactively reach out and make sure you know that that opportunity is available to you,” he said.Sununu said that by Friday or Saturday, the system should be up and running with all of the available dates for second shots, so for the 11,000 people still trying to book a timely appointment, waiting a couple of days to try the VAMS website might save them some frustration.
Many Granite Staters are continuing to express frustration with the system used by the state to schedule their second vaccination dose.
Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday that everyone eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1B will receive the second vaccine dose within a week of the recommended date.
But after massive problems with the scheduling system this week, many Granite Staters said they don’t have confidence in the system. Some called News 9 in tears, while others used profanity in their emails. Many said they don’t want to be told again to be patient.
“Very frustrated. There is no place to turn,” said Neal Crossland, of Hudson. “There’s no answer, nobody out there to help you. You’re on your own.”
Earlier this week, vaccine recipients were told to cancel their second appointments that were scheduled outside of the recommended timeframe. They were assured that a bevy of earlier slots would pop up on the scheduling website, only to watch other problems arise. The 211 call center then crashed.
“Other states give second appointments at the same time,” said Julie Crossland, of Hudson. “Why are thousands of people waiting in line? They know we’ve gotten the first one.”
Part of the problem is being attributed to the software run by the federal government called VAMS, which stands for Vaccine Administration Management System. The governor said New Hampshire opted in because the state never had the need for a large-scale vaccination system.
“It’s a very clunky federal system that we have been using,” Sununu said. “We have a new system that the state is going to be implementing. We are building our own system. We are getting off the clunky federal stuff, and that will be up and running before the next phase.”
Sununu said that anyone who doesn’t want to deal with the VAMS website doesn’t have to. He said the state will be calling people.
“You can go in by the end of this week and move yourself up within a week of your scheduled date, and if you don’t for some reason, we will proactively reach out and make sure you know that that opportunity is available to you,” he said.
Sununu said that by Friday or Saturday, the system should be up and running with all of the available dates for second shots, so for the 11,000 people still trying to book a timely appointment, waiting a couple of days to try the VAMS website might save them some frustration.