Coronavirus: New obstacles as vaccination portal opens (updated)
The vaccination portal, closed on Thursday due to technical problems, reopened on Friday, but not without presenting applicants with new problems.
People aged 35 and 36 are eligible to book their slot – but only after waiting for an appointment for what can be a very a long time.
Nevertheless, by 9.15 am on Friday, a total of 10,110 of the 13,473 available slots were booked. Of these 4644 were for Pfizer shots, 1593 for AstraZeneca, 2855 for Moderna vaccines and 968 for Johnson & Johnson.
Friday was the first day of operation of the portal with a new system. There is now an online waiting list, and those accessing the portal may be told they have as many as 8,000 people ahead of them, and have to wait in front of their computer for their turn to be able to book a slot.
They then have five minutes to make an appointment. Social media was flooded with posts by people anxious to book their slot complaining that the new system only created more obstacles.
According to information, Deputy Minister of Research and Innovation Kyriakos Kokkinos is currently in a meeting with officials.