80,000 Waiting at Midnight... Hot Demand for 50s Vaccination Reservations Despite Not Being 'First-Come, First-Served'

From midnight on the 12th, advance reservations for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine began for 3,524,000 people aged 55 to 59. However, due to a large number of users accessing the system, there are delays in connecting to the reservation system. The photo shows the waiting screen of the COVID-19 vaccination advance reservation system at around 3:30 a.m. that day. (Image source: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] From the 12th, advance reservations for Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations began for those aged 55 to 59 (born between 1962 and 1966). Reservations started at midnight, but users experienced inconvenience due to repeated connection delays.

The target group starting vaccinations on this day consists of 3,524,000 people aged 55 to 59. Following this, from the 19th to the 24th, reservations will continue for 3,900,000 people aged 50 to 54, totaling 7,424,000 people. This is the largest single vaccination group, surpassing the 6,960,000 people in their 60s.

Around the reservation start time, a large number of new applicants flooded the system, causing connection delays. Some users could not connect at all, or faced waiting times exceeding 167 hours. Unlike those aged 60 and above, who mainly used phone reservations due to less familiarity with the internet, people in their 50s are more proficient with internet use, resulting in a massive influx of users. Around 3 a.m., the number of users waiting to connect reached 800,000.

However, as time passed, the connection delays somewhat eased. By around 6:30 a.m., it took about one minute just to access the system's main page, but subsequent reservations proceeded without significant issues. Nevertheless, as daylight increased, the number of users surged again, and as of 8:30 a.m., approximately 50,000 users were waiting in real-time, causing a 30-minute wait just to enter the system.

This advance reservation system connection delay has been repeatedly occurring since the Janssen vaccine first-come, first-served reservation on the 1st of last month.