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For many relatives of elderly people in North Rhine-Westphalia, the first task of the new week was to sit in front of the laptop or smartphone at 8 a.m. punctually.

Because the booking of vaccination appointments for people over 80 was activated - by hotline and on the Internet.

Anyone who embarked on this venture for his father or grandmother needed patience.

Users report that they repeatedly had to update the website or were redirected to re-enter the federal state they wanted for the appointment - NRW.

Others failed because of the PIN code that the system sent to mobile phones for confirmation: the code sent consisted of six digits, but the input field required twelve digits.

In the social media, frustrated users reacted with incomprehension and sarcasm.

One person claimed to have received the error message "Syntax Error in JSON" when attempting to book and wondered which 80-year-old should understand what the screen wants from him.

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Another user wrote on Twitter that his 87-year-old friend, who has neither a computer nor a smartphone, asked him to make an appointment for him on “this Internet”.

The man is unlikely to be the only one from the target group whose online expertise is exhausted simply by knowing the correct name, not to mention having the e-mail address required for booking.

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In more constructive complaints, it was suggested, among other things, that it would have been better to let a well-known online ticket platform organize the logistics.

Some also reported successes.

Someone who had apparently stolen a confirmation from the website against all expectations jubilated in capital letters that he had "A #IMPFTERMIN FOR GRANDMA".

Only to find out that she would never have come this far without her grandchildren.

While such grandchildren, daughters-in-law and other younger people were soaking up their frustrations on the “Internet”, nothing else was going on there: As of Monday evening, the appointment website has been blocking every visitor with an error message since the afternoon, according to the “online Booking currently not possible ".

The hotline, which is staffed by 1200 call center employees, has apparently also collapsed under the load that almost one million people eligible for vaccination from North Rhine-Westphalia represent.

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The North Rhine and Westphalia-Lippe statutory health insurance associations responsible for the organization also spoke of an overload and asked to book the appointment at a later date.

The SPD in the CDU and FDP-led Düsseldorf Landtag called the problems "vaccination chaos" and requested an update on the vaccination strategy in the Landtag.

An SPD spokesman confirmed to WELT that this had now been scheduled for Wednesday.

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Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) spoke of a successful start despite the difficulties.

"Tens of thousands got appointments today," said Laschet after the first online meetings of the newly elected CDU top bodies.

But it was clear from the start: “If a million people receive a letter and then call a hotline, this can lead to congestion.

Then there can also be technical problems. "

"How Armin Laschet can speak of a successful start is a mystery to me," said SPD state politician Thomas Kutschaty WELT.

The state government was “not properly prepared”, although it had to reckon with the onslaught - especially since, despite the postponement of the start of the vaccination, it had previously “drummed for the start of appointments”, said Kutschaty.

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In addition, older people “cannot be expected to have to drive 50 kilometers to a vaccination center”.

Almost two thirds of the 31 districts in North Rhine-Westphalia have already complained about such distances for their older citizens, according to a parliamentary group spokesman.

"We would have liked to have had more employees"

The North Rhine and Westphalia-Lippe Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians are also dissatisfied with the organization when asked.

More than the 1200 call center employees who opposed the onslaught on Monday, "the job market has not given up at the moment," says a spokeswoman.

"We would have really liked to have had more." This was pointed out to the country several times in advance and problems "anticipated".

As it is, however, at the start of the appointment allocation it boiled down to a “New Year's Eve effect”: “At midnight, everyone comes out at the same time and starts the rockets.” For NRW this meant 2.5 million website visits per hour on Monday, and by phone 280,000 people would have tried between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Of course, a strong rush was expected - but not in this force, the spokeswoman said.

With just under one million people entitled to vaccinations, the numbers could hardly be explained in any other way than that for some senior citizens "the entire family" tried to get an appointment.

In order to prevent days like today in the future, the technology is being upgraded now, additional servers are being purchased.

One can also understand frustration with the design of the online booking: "Yes, indeed, that is very, very complicated," says the spokeswoman.

"I'll tell you quite honestly: When I got the instructions, I read them three times and thought: Well, did you understand that now?"

The system was developed by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians on the instructions of the Federal Ministry of Health, but not adopted by all state associations.

However, their own systems have so far "also worked rather suboptimally".

The non-uniform systems made online appointment booking even more complicated.

If you want to try it by phone instead, you can reach the hotline daily between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

If you live in the Rhenish part of North Rhine-Westphalia, you should dial the toll-free number 0800 116 117 01, people in Westphalia the toll-free number 0800 116 117 02. Those who only dial 116 117 will be forwarded.

And those who did not get through on Monday heard the announcement: “Unfortunately, due to numerous calls, all lines in your district are currently busy.

Please try again later".

The registration portals can be found on the Internet at www.116117.de.

Due to a lack of vaccines, the centers should only run in one-shift operation at first

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Scheduling appointments is not the only problem with vaccinations in North Rhine-Westphalia.

As everywhere in Germany, the vaccines themselves are in short supply.

As of February 8, around 70,000 people are expected to receive initial vaccinations per week in the 53 vaccination centers.

The NRW Ministry of Health expects a total of 560,000 first vaccinations in the first eight weeks.

Three weeks after the start, a further 560,000 second vaccinations will begin, a ministry spokesman said on Monday.

According to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, there is no shortage of the necessary volunteers who are supposed to carry out the vaccinations.

There are enough doctors and medical specialists to run the vaccination centers under full load in a two-shift system from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

At least if there is enough vaccine.

Until then, the facilities would only be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. - "in order to use the available capacities efficiently."