Over 41K people try to get 200 vaccines through Marco Island, system crashes

Many people reached out to us saying they were unable to get signed up for coronavirus vaccines on Marco Island Wednesday.

The City said it had more than 651,000 page views and almost 42,000 individuals online at once as people tried to get one of the 200 available appointments. That means less than a half percent of folks were successful. The system slowed down and became unresponsive because of that traffic.

It’s hard staying away from family during a pandemic.

“We have a… 1.5-year-old granddaughter, and we missed her first birthday in July,” Sarah Jenson said. “Just being able to hug her and see her.”

That’s why Jenson tried everything to get a vaccine during the middle of the week.

From calling Lee County at 9 a.m. to logging onto Publix’s vaccine portal at 6 a.m.

“I kept clicking, clicking, clicking,” Jenson said.

When she tried to get a spot for Marco Island’s vaccine supply during the afternoon, she says she couldn’t get onto the website.

“I got to a place that said error the page is not available,” Jenson explained. “I started again, and it was even more painful and eventually said server unavailable.”

The City says its technology infrastructure was overwhelmed by the demand, and the website couldn’t keep up.

The City also said it will try to come up with a new plan, but given the tiny number of doses, it says it will be tough. Marco Island will keep the community updated when more vaccines are received.

Thousands of people tried to call the city hall with questions, but with that demand, many callers got a busy signal. It was a painful ending to an already endless day of trying to book an appointment.

“I am absolutely frustrated,” Jenson said.

Still, Jenson holds onto the feeling of squeezing her grandbaby again soon.

“I am going to have to keep trying,” Jenson said. “I just can’t give up … That’s a heart motivation.”