Photographer: Johnny Milano / Bloomberg
Photographer: Johnny Milano / Bloomberg
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Microsoft Corp.’s widely used vaccine programming software, which has struggled in states like Iowa and New Jersey, is accused of problems that left some residents of the country’s capital unable to book appointments.
After three consecutive days of problems with the District of Columbia’s online vaccination record, the Redmond, Washington-based technology company issued a statement along with the city government acknowledging “that our efforts have fallen short.” and promising to fix the problems.
“We understand the frustration of people who tried to use the district’s vaccination dating portal this week,” they said. “We are committed to addressing technical issues so that the vaccination appointment portal is properly functional and accessible.”
DC issues represent another black eye for Microsoft, which has highlighted its software as a way to help with rapid deployment and scheduling of the vaccine. In recent years, the software giant has increasingly focused on hospital and healthcare systems as customers of its cloud and artificial intelligence systems, including the release of a cloud software package. adapted to the industry last year.
Frustrated users of the system took to Twitter to litany of complaints, including Captcha response tests failing, error messages saying the service was unavailable, and the webpage crashing.
“It was a deeply frustrating experience,” said Adam Beitman, 36, who spent 40 minutes trying to use the website after learning that asthma qualified as a pre-existing condition. “It’s not clear how a website can be so dysfunctional. I don’t even know if I got the appointment or not. “
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office forwarded questions about the specific cause of the problems to the city’s health department, which did not respond to emails or voice messages seeking comment.
“Very frustrating”
“We know this morning has been very frustrating for a lot of people,” DC Health said dit on Twitter Thursday. “We’re working with Microsoft to understand why heavy traffic has caused some eligible people to be unable to pass.”
Vincent Gray, a member of the District of Columbia Council who chairs the health committee, said he plans to hold a hearing on March 4 to investigate the issues.
The problems come after problems with the Microsoft system that has led at least one state to cancel a contract with the technology company. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said earlier this month, the state withdrew from a plan to use Microsoft software to register patients and schedule vaccines against Covid-19 “after learning more about the breadth of Microsoft’s solution and review the challenges facing some other states. “
In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy complained of significant failures in the vaccine programming system built by Microsoft, which was affected by problems for weeks after implementation.