AB booking site had 4 pharmacies that weren't prepared to give pediatric COVID-19 shots

Alberta parents and guardians rushed to begin booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments for their children Wednesday morning as they opened for five to 11 year olds for the first time. But there was a problem with hundreds of the appointments available, leading to confusion and disappointments as parents scrambled for new spots. The Alberta Health vaccination booking site mistakenly showed 1,500 spots for vaccines that didn’t exist when the booking opened for the younger age group at 8 a.m. “We are aware of four pharmacies that incorrectly opened pediatric vaccine appointments early this morning," Alberta Health said in a statement to CBC News. "These sites were contacted and their pediatric vaccine appointments were removed from the vaccine booking system within the hour.” Read: Consumer watchdog show Marketplace asks pharmacists about homeopathic remedies on hidden camera Three of those pharmacies were in Edmonton and one was in Airdrie, a city near Calgary. Pharmacist Mohamed Ahmed, who works at Windermere Pharmacy, one of the affected Edmonton sites, told CBC he wasn’t sure how his pharmacy was added to the booking options. He said as a result of the mix-up, parents had been calling about the appointments they had made, and a mother and daughter actually came expecting shots Wednesday morning. "I told her, 'I don't know what happened,' but I explained to her that she has to go through Alberta Health . . . she was a little bit frustrated about that." Brent Oliver, who booked one of those appointments for his 10-year-old daughter, expressed his frustration with the mess-up to CBC. “I just worry about all the parents that show up at these vaccination appointments and their kids aren't booked. Why can't they just get this right? They've had so many chances." Read: Shoppers health app adds booking service for physio, massage, other rehabilitation services Many other parents who found out their spots were false were also frustrated, according to Sarah Mackey, a volunteer with Vaccine Hunters Alberta, a group that helps Albertans find COVID-19 vaccines. The group tweeted a warning about the error shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. "We're a little concerned that people are going to be showing up at these pharmacies expecting doses," she told the CBC. "There is a lot of confusion around this."

AB booking site had 4 pharmacies that weren't prepared to give pediatric COVID-19 shots

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