Photographer: Johnny Milano / Bloomberg
Photographer: Johnny Milano / Bloomberg
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Commonly used vaccine planning software from Microsoft Corp. who has run into trouble in states like Iowa and New Jersey has been blamed for problems that prevented some residents of the capital from meeting.
After three consecutive days of problems with the District of Columbia’s online vaccination registry, the technology company in Redmond, Washington, along with the city government, released a statement acknowledging “our efforts were failing” and pledging to address the issues.
“We understand the frustration of individuals who tried to use the district’s vaccination portal this week,” they said. “We are committed to addressing technical issues so that the vaccination appointment portal is functional and accessible.”
The problems in DC represent another black eye for Microsoft, which has heavily touted its software as a way to aid in rapid implementation and planning of vaccines. In recent years, the software giant has increasingly focused on healthcare and hospital systems as customers for its cloud and artificial intelligence systems, including the launch of an industry-tailored cloud software suite last year.
Frustrated users of the system took to Twitter to post a litany of complaintsincluding Captcha response tests not working, service unavailable errors and web page crashes.
“It was a very frustrating experience,” said Adam Beitman, 36, who spent 40 minutes trying to use the website after discovering that his asthma qualified as a pre-existing condition. “It is unclear how a website can be so dysfunctional. I don’t even know if I have the appointment or not. “
The office of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser referred questions about the specific cause of the problems to the city’s health department, which did not respond to emails and voice messages asking for comment.
‘Very frustrating’
“We know this morning was very frustrating for a lot of people,” says DC Health said on Twitter Thursday. “We’re working with Microsoft to understand why heavy traffic prevented some eligible individuals from getting through.”
Vincent Gray, a member of the Council of the District of Columbia who chairs the health committee, said he plans to hold a hearing on March 4 to investigate the issues.
The problems follow malfunctions with the Microsoft system that resulted in at least one state canceling a contract with the tech company. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said earlier this month, the state stepped back on a plan to use Microsoft’s software to register patients and schedule vaccinations against Covid-19 “after learning more about the breadth of Microsoft’s solution and the challenges of some. other states had looked at. “
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy complained of significant malfunctions in the state’s Microsoft-built vaccination planning system. marred by problems for weeks after it rolled out.