Victoria’s vaccine booking website crashes again due to overwhelming demand after Pfizer change

Young Victorians eager to get vaccinated with Pfizer have crashed the booking website for the second time as residents raced to make a booking.

Victorians have vented their frustrations after the government’s vaccine booking website crashed for the second time in two days following a major Pfizer announcement.

The website initially crashed within minutes of Premier Daniel Andrews announcing any Victorian aged 16 and older would be eligible for the Pfizer jab.

Mr Andrews revealed Victorians aged between 16 and 39 would be able to book a Pfizer jab from 7am on Wednesday at the state-run vaccination centres.

He also announced an extra 830,000 first dose vaccination appointments would be made available, which would be split about 50 per cent between the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.

However, technical issues have been a sticking point for residents trying to book.

“Trying to register for vaccine, website seems to have crashed. What’s going on? Upgrade IT systems people,” one person said on Twitter.

It’s like trying to get a ticket to Falls Festival #COVID19Vicpic.twitter.com/ziKONLOsVZ

— Kyra Gillespie (@kyra_gillespie) August 24, 2021

Another posted a screenshot of the error message they received when trying to open the vaccine portal alongside the note: “Victoria Covid vaccine booking portal right now at 6.45am in morning.”

When asked on Tuesday about the website crashing, Mr Andrews said they were never happy to see their systems overwhelmed but it just spoke to the number of Victorians who wanted to protect themselves against the virus.

“I don’t know if you can build a website big enough for over 1.2 million people who want to get vaccinated,” the Premier said.

The web page was back up and running just before 2pm. However, it crashed again on Wednesday morning just minutes before the latest Covid-19 figures in Victoria dropped.

Victoria recorded 45 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including another nine mystery infections.

The website crashed again on Wednesday morning. Picture: Supplied

The department said 36 of the 45 new cases could be linked to existing outbreaks.

Alarmingly, only 17 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period, meaning 19 were out in the community.

Hopes of the lockdown being eased on September 2 are fading fast after the state recorded five straight days of 50 local cases and above before Wednesday’s figure.

Meanwhile, Mr Andrews on Tuesday said the vaccine appointments had been opened up as the government now had certainty the extra doses Prime Minister Scott Morrison secured from Poland would arrive.

Victorians aged 16 and 17 years old will only be able to get the Pfizer jab as they are not eligible for AstraZeneca under the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s advice. Those aged 60 and over will continue to receive AstraZeneca.

When people arrive for their vaccine appointment at one of the state hubs, they will be offered both vaccines and will be able to choose their jab.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made the Pfizer announcement on Tuesday. Picture: Ian Currie / NCA NewsWire

Those who have already made an appointment will also be offered both and don’t need to change or cancel their appointment.

Mr Andrews again urged people not to cancel their existing appointments in order to book a Pfizer jab after more than 15,000 AstraZeneca bookings were binned on Monday.

The government has a goal of more than one million doses in arms over the next five weeks and Mr Andrews said the state was on track to exceed that.

“A booking is the most important way and the only way you can get into this system unless you are a priority worker,” he said.

The expansion will result in an extra 2 million Victorians becoming eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, while about 1.7 million Victorians aged 16 to 59 have already received the jab.