Access to vaccines like “obstacle races” where the call line was overwhelmed: Emergency physicians

“The state will work with all Manitoba states to review eligibility criteria before requesting a reservation so as not to overwhelm the reservation system and to book a vaccination reservation for those who need it most. I’m looking for it, “says Release.

However, Dr. Dan Roberts, who works at the Health Science Center, says he does not buy that the system has been overloaded by calls from unqualified people because the standards have been so clarified.

He says there was probably a large number of calls the state received, as he and some of his colleagues had to try multiple times to get through in the first place.

“It’s a ridiculous reaction,” Roberts said.

“They claim to have had more than 100,000 calls, so if you have 500 qualified people who have made 200 calls and I have made more than 400 calls, that’s the number. I will. “

Doctors say he started calling many times

Roberts said he tried to get over it on Saturday and Sunday for about 12 hours and was repeatedly kicked out of the line.

“It’s frustrating. It’s very rude,” Roberts said.

“You went through, they played piano music for about 8 minutes and 30 seconds, and then they kicked you off the line, so that probably happened to me 75 times,” said the 67-year-old. .. Those who meet the eligibility criteria for receiving the vaccine.

He also said he would go through just to get him to tell him that he couldn’t understand his response to the automated system.

“They will tell you they aren’t listening to you … and they will drive you off the line and the line will die,” he said.

According to the state, the line should be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but Roberts said he stopped receiving calls on Saturday at 4 pm.

“Probably after the 400th call, it will close at 4:01 and reopen at 6am, he said. [Sunday] “Morning,” he said.

“So I set my alarm clock to 5:55 and started making calls shortly before 6 o’clock, but I still couldn’t get through.”

Roberts said he was finally able to make a reservation around 10 am on Sunday, four hours after he first started trying that day.

Sufficient vaccine for 900 critical care workers

According to a memo from the Manitoba Vaccination Task Force issued late Friday, healthcare professionals must work in direct contact with patients and meet additional criteria to qualify for the first round of vaccination. Must be.

It must also meet one of the following criteria: He worked in the emergency room and was born before December 31, 1970. Worked in emergency care and long-term care facilities and was born before December 31, 1960. Or assigned to the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic, says the state release.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for use by Health Canada earlier this week. The state had previously announced that about 900 critical care workers would be vaccinated for the first time in Manitoba.

So far, about half of those vaccines have been talked about.

The state states that it will keep Manitoba up to date as more vaccines become available.

The system ran like a lottery: doctor

Roberts took a break and was able to make many phone calls over time, but he feels like a healthcare professional who is working and has no time.

“Especially, the emergency nurses who are most struggling to overcome this kind of nonsense ordeal are very ruthless,” he said.

“They are working hard and have to spend the weekend playing this government-set obstacle race, which only shows the lack of foresight and compassion they seem to have.” Roberts said.

The doctor filed some complaints with his boss at Shared Health and said he wanted some accountability as to how this was handled.

He states that healthcare professionals should not be responsible for calling and booking spots, but should be based on eligibility and risk factors. Roberts said the information was gathered from online forms, sorted by risk, and delivered to those in need.

“It would have been a civilized way to do that, instead they ran what looked like an insane lottery,” he said.