WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Publix booked about 48,000 appointments Friday for people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, even though reports on the programming website were not working properly.
The WPTV newsroom received dozens of calls and emails from people who said the marker, which shows how many appointments are left in each Florida county, was frozen for at least 20 minutes.
Maria Brous, Publix’s communications director, posted this statement to WPTV at 10:15 a.m.:
“This morning we were able to schedule about 48,000 vaccination appointments for next week. As those on the website were able to see, we had a brief delay in the scheduling process.”
In the early hours of the morning, at 7:46 a.m., Brous told our news team by email that “The system works. Appointments are booked.”
Brous said the next window to book vaccine appointments for COVID-19 at Publix will open on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.
Installing several screens to help her neighbors, Cathy Rethmeier noticed something different about the Publix COVID-19 vaccine appointment site on Friday morning.
“There was a blue button that said yes, we were still waiting. But we also immediately realized that the counters weren’t counting down,” Rethmeier said.
And she wasn’t the only one.
Some said they had decided to choose a date and time for the appointment, but the “Book Now” tab would not work.
“We know it takes a lot of people and energy to make it all happen, we’re very grateful. But there’s definitely room for improvement and we’re very hopeful. That’s why we keep doing it,” Rethmeier said.
Publix continues to adjust its booking system based on customer feedback. In a major change, the schedule button has been moved to the top of the appointment page instead of the bottom.
In addition, Publix responded on Friday to a WPTV report in which some Patients over the age of 65 stated that they could not be vaccinated at the grocery store because they had been infected with COVID-19, but it had not yet been 90 days since their initial symptoms appeared.
Publix posted this statement to WPTV:
“The CDC guidelines have recently been updated. We are re-communicating with our teams to ensure they have the latest information.
We can vaccinate patients who have had COVID for the past 90 days if they have not received antibody treatment. If they receive antibody treatment, they should postpone vaccination and talk to their doctor. “
Under the “Know before you leave” section of the Publix COVID-19 vaccine site, the company lists guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that state that “it is okay for an infected person to postpone the vaccine for 90 days after symptoms have subsided. ‘have resolved based on the low risk of reinfection during this period.
To book an appointment at Publix, click here.