First Day of Pre-Booking COVID-19 Vaccinations for Ages 65-69... Phone Lines 'Down,' Seniors 'Frustrated'

Call Centers in 5 Autonomous Districts of Gwangju Overwhelmed with Reservation Calls from Morning of 10th

Majority of Elderly Rely on Phone Reservations... About 10 Staff Members Handling Calls

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] "The phone has been dead all day."

This is a common complaint among vaccination candidates on the 10th, when advance reservations for COVID-19 vaccines at entrusted medical institutions for the elderly aged 65 to 69 began.

A (68, Dong-gu, Gwangju) who tried to connect to the call center by phone from 9 a.m. that day has been waiting for two hours. This is because of the voice saying "The customer is on the line" heard through the receiver.

Feeling frustrated, he tried contacting other call centers, but all counters were in a similar situation.

Mr. A eventually had to give up and postpone the vaccination reservation to the next day.

He said, "I have to get vaccinated on a specific date due to circumstances, but they just don't answer the phone," adding, "It's like this today, and I'm worried about what will happen tomorrow."

From the first day of advance reservations, seniors aged 65 to 69 who wish to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have expressed numerous complaints about 'booking reservations.'

A fierce reservation battle is underway to secure the desired date and location.

The Gwangju quarantine authorities are accepting advance reservations for AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine inoculations at entrusted medical institutions for those aged 65 to 69 from that day until the 3rd of next month.

Reservation channels vary from online to phone and in-person visits, but since the vaccination candidates are elderly, phone reservations are concentrated.

Given this situation, the call centers of the five autonomous districts in Gwangju were almost unreachable all day.

Elderly people who have no alternative but phone reservations or have difficulty moving had an even harder time.

Although the phone reservation desks were divided among the Disease Control Agency call center, the Health and Welfare Counseling Center, and the five autonomous districts of Gwangju, the effect was minimal.

As of last month, the registered population aged 65 to 69 in the Gwangju area is 67,307.

Even if some have no intention of getting vaccinated, a considerable number of vaccination candidates exist.

In fact, the reservation rate for the elderly aged 70 to 74, who started receiving reservations in this way from the 6th, was only about 32% as of the 8th.

There is a growing call for increasing call center staff and other resources for the phone reservation system, which these elderly mainly rely on, to function properly.

Currently, each autonomous district has about 10 staff members answering vaccine reservation calls. This number is far too small to handle inquiries from tens of thousands of people.

Of course, the reservation period is relatively long at about three weeks, and there are other channels such as online and in-person visits, but to increase the low reservation rate, there is also a need for drastic measures.

An official from one autonomous district said, "Since it is the first day of advance reservations, phone inquiries are pouring in," adding, "We will strive to process work quickly so that seniors do not have any inconvenience in setting vaccination dates, etc."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.