(Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)

By CJME News

SHA tweaks COVID vaccination appointment system

May 13, 2021 | 2:34 PM

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has made a technical tweak to make it easier for people to book appointments to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Thursday, the SHA said it had changed its Vaccine Patient Booking System, which now can hold appointments for five minutes while a person fills out the necessary form.

“This upgrade was completed after receiving feedback about the frustrations of some patients, whose selected appointment times were no longer available by the time they finished filling out the necessary details, forcing them to find another appointment time,” the SHA said in a media release.

When a person selects a clinic and a time, they’ll have five minutes to book an appointment and confirm it. If five minutes elapse without the appointment being booked and confirmed, it will be released and the person will have to select another time.

According to the SHA, 342,719 vaccine appointments have been booked since the system came online March 11. Of those, 224,314 have been booked online.

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As of Thursday, everyone aged 26 and over in the province could book a vaccination appointment online or by phone (1-833-727-5829). The age of eligibility is to drop to 23 and over on Friday.

Frontline workers — including teachers, firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, border security agents and some health-care workers — also are eligible to make an appointment.

People who are eligible also can make arrangements to get a shot at one of the pharmacies in Saskatchewan that are participating in a pilot vaccination project, or by attending one of the drive-through or walk-in clinics that are operating around the province.