Due to a failure in the vaccination campaign booking system, the same appointment was sent out in Hargita (Harghita) County to all those whose vaccination date had been previously postponed because of the lack of vaccines in the country. (via Székelyhon.ro)
The IT program did not take into consideration the original appointments of people entitled to be vaccinated on that day and instead gave everybody 8:00 a.m. appointments. So, for example, someone who originally reserved a 7:00 p.m. appointment and someone who booked an appointment for noon, both got an 8:00 a.m. appointment, meaning Hargita County vaccination centers will be extremely busy this week in the mornings, especially in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) and Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc). The leader of the Hargita County Medical Board, Gyöngyi Tar, informed people about the situation, adding that on some days, almost 30 people may be arriving at the same time.
For those with an appointment this week or next, Gyöngyi Tar had the following message: “Colleagues working in the vaccination centers are trying […] to inform people that not everybody should show up at 8 in the morning, but later during the day too. People can also stick to the hour when their original appointment was because the vaccine will be there for them and nobody else will be vaccinated instead.”
“It is important to avoid congestion in the mornings because we don’t want crowds to form and everybody to enter the vaccination centers at the same time due to the cold weather and potentially get infected right there.”
– emphasized Gyöngyi Tar. He then added: “These waiting rooms in general are not suitable for a bigger crowd to wait inside; they are for patients in transit.”
The leader of the County Medical Board also suggested that those registered should not arrive on the hour, but instead 10 to 15 minutes or even half an hour later. Six to eight people on average can get vaccinated within an hour, and it’s better if they do not all arrive at the same time.
Title image is an illustration (Photo: Nándor Veres/MTI)
