Local governments starting to improve sign up systems for getting vaccines

Vaccine portals address tech problems as states begin wider sign-ups Local governments and technology companies are scrambling to fix the glitch-filled registration portals that have slowed down the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. Chris Mills Rodrigo and Rebecca Klar TheHill

Local governments and technology companies are scrambling to fix the glitch-filled registration portals that have slowed down the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.

Washington, D.C.’s sign-up system has attracted significant attention over its failures. For several weeks in a row, residents have been greeted with glitches, failed captcha codes and system errors when trying to schedule appointments to get a potentially life-saving dose.

“The failures in D.C.'s vaccine distribution system have been painful for our residents,” D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D) told The Hill.

Local officials in D.C. hope that a new sign-up system launching Wednesday could alleviate many of the problems with the previous portal.

Residents will now be able to register once and then be contacted via email or phone when they can make an appointment. ...

D.C.'s vaccine portal is not unique in its technical failures. But across the country, there are signs of improvement as new systems launch and volunteers step up. Government officials see signs of hope just in time for more vaccines to become available and states to lower eligibility requirements.

Local officials in D.C. hope that a new sign-up system launching Wednesday could alleviate many of the problems with the previous portal.

Residents will now be able to register once and then be contacted via email or phone when they can make an appointment.

The new system is being launched in partnership with Microsoft, which also worked on the earlier portal. The software giant acknowledged in a joint statement with D.C.’s government that efforts on the first sign-up system fell short....

Mani Sundaram, executive vice president and chief information officer at Akamai, a company working with local governments to make vaccine websites more efficient, told The Hill that vaccine portal sites have been “getting better” since the start of the rollout late last year.

“I think a lot of the counties and states are now realizing that they have to put some more work into their website,” said Sundaram...

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