[On-site Report] Midnight Vaccine Chaos... "Tens of Thousands Waited Through, But They Say I'm Not Eligible?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Reservations for the Janssen (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine, which will begin administration on the 10th, started at midnight on the 1st. Although authorities promised to prepare in advance to prevent errors, some users reported that the reservation system opened a few minutes earlier than the announced time, and some civil defense personnel were incorrectly shown as ineligible, leading to complaints from those who failed to make reservations.

At midnight on the day, pre-reservations for the Janssen vaccine began through the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's COVID-19 vaccination pre-reservation system for reservists aged 30 and above, civil defense personnel, and military-related workers. Military-related workers include Ministry of National Defense, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and Military Manpower Administration officials, fixed-entry civilian personnel, employees of Ministry of National Defense-affiliated organizations, family members of professional soldiers (spouses, children, cohabiting direct ascendants, siblings, etc.), and fixed-entry civilian personnel at military units.

The government allocated vaccines for one million people among these eligible groups. Although the U.S. government pledged a total of 1,012,800 doses of the Janssen vaccine, about 10,000 doses were separately allocated for essential outbound travelers and others.

Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

However, the actual pre-reservation started slightly earlier than the announced time, around 11:56 PM the previous day. Posts claiming "reservations have already started" appeared one after another on various internet communities, and "certification posts" of completed vaccinations were shared even before midnight on the 1st.

After the announced start time of midnight passed, the number of users quickly increased. By around 12:11 AM, the waiting queue exceeded 60,000, and waiting times were displayed as over 40 minutes. Information such as "use a PC" and "access through a specific browser for faster connection" was rapidly shared within communities.

However, Jeong Eun-kyung, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force (Director of KDCA), stated at a briefing the previous day that "we will prepare in advance to prevent errors in the vaccination system," and although delays in access occurred, there was no so-called "downtime" where users could not access the pre-reservation system at all.

These waiting issues mostly resolved after around 12:30 AM, and since then, access to the pre-reservation system has been smooth as of 1 AM.

In some areas, civil defense personnel are being informed that they are not eligible for the advance reservation system.

Nevertheless, despite successfully accessing the system after long waits, some civil defense personnel still cannot attempt reservations. In areas such as Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, some civil defense personnel encounter a message stating "You are not eligible," preventing identity verification.

Lee (33), a civil defense personnel residing in Yeongdeungpo-gu, complained, "I couldn't even access the system for about 20 minutes starting at midnight, and when I finally did, I keep getting messages saying I'm not eligible no matter how many times I try." On internet communities, complaints continue such as "I'm a civil defense personnel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, but it says I'm not eligible," and "After several attempts, I found out I had moved years ago but was still registered as a civil defense personnel in Yeongdeungpo-gu."

A Yeongdeungpo-gu official said, "We are receiving a flood of inquiries about being unable to make Janssen vaccine reservations," and added, "We are currently investigating the matter."