«There are places about 100 km from the house. But there is one brighter spot: Wyśmierzyce, 80 km away from us, in the GP surgery at ul. Maria Konopnicka »writes Michał Broniatowski, who tried to enroll his wife for vaccination on the Internet. It worked, not without adventures.
- “First, we log in without any problems with the e-signature, via the bank and it works really well” – writes Michał Broniatowski, journalist at TvoiLokony, POLITICO coordinator in Poland
- The problem comes up fairly quickly. A journalist’s wife, whose PESEL number starts with 51, is automatically included in the group of 70-year-olds, although in fact she is still 69 years old
- «The site asks about the town where we live. We type and we already know that between February 22 and March 22, there is no available date in our area. But there is a button
> »- describes the registration process by Broniatowski - Finally, the vaccination is enrolled in an outpatient clinic 80 km from home
- More current information can be found on the Onet homepage.
Showing off my digital advancement, I found a quick (well, let’s say quick, because in just over a month) vaccination period for my wife for COVID-19. The registration system worked, but it seems as if it was developed by some joyful IT specialist, for whom the most important thing is that the machine works, but is completely not interested in HOW it works.
And it works like this:
A week ago I reported myself on the site «Vaccination against COVID-19«. There were no problems, but they did arise with my wife. The system simply spat it out and left it in the vaccine-coronavirus void for seven days. It was impossible to save, let alone register.
All because the creator of the system decided to make his life easier by selecting people only after the first two digits of the PESEL number, not worrying about the actual date of birth. The result is that anyone whose 11-digit ID starts with “51” is considered to be 70 years old, even if he or she had a birthday in December.
And the practical effect of this treatment made the machine refuse to accept the vaccine. I am writing about it because such a situation will probably repeat itself when registering 60-year-olds.
- There is a new way to sign up for vaccinations. The key letter «Ę»
We waited a week and at 7 am we sat down to the computer. And what?
Click on “Registration”, and here the “Service of the Republic of Poland” asks, “Are you over 70?”.
The wife is not finished, so we politely return to the “Apply” button, where, however, you can only report and fall into an indefinite black hole.
Here is a small digression: our IT specialist uses the rules of digital etiquette on the gov.pl website, appropriate for his own bubble in social media and unceremoniously addresses 70-year-olds (and a week ago to 80-year-olds) as “you”. I wonder if if he was sitting in a window in a health center and registering an elderly person for vaccination, he would also ask her “you are 70 years old”?
Returning to the registration page, we look away from the question “Are you over 70?” and with full awareness that we are certifying a falsehood (I don’t know if it’s not worse than skipping the queue), we answer “yes” on the next two pages and we can register.
First, we log in without any problems with the e-signature via the bank and it works really well.
- What about Poles who have not reported their willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
The website asks about the town where we live. We type and we already know that between February 22 and March 22, there is no available date in our area. But there is a button «Search» (no information what to look for). We click.
The window below shows a dozen or so proposals for February 23 in towns at least 100 km away. from home and between 6.00 a.m. and 7.30 a.m.
Too far and too early – we would have to leave in the dark at night, and yet the hotels are closed.
And here Mr. IT specialist showed the fullness of his power. Instead of allowing you to scroll through the database with available dates or, for example, provide a “Next” button, he decided to sit comfortably in the armchair and twirling the thumbs of the grinder, watch me get tired.
It was a tough moment. The Search button faded. I don’t know what to do, because the website offers me nothing. With my soul on my shoulder, I press Clear. All entries disappear, including the place of residence.
We inform Mr. Informatyka once again where we live, we find out again that from 22.02/22.03 to XNUMX/XNUMX there are no deadlines, but the button «Search» is active again. I click.
Again, there are a dozen proposals for February 23, also in the morning light hours, but this time even further – the record holder is at 6.30 at a distance of 170 km.
- “We got in at midnight and it worked.” Why did some sign up earlier?
Now I’m smarter. Again «Clear». I enter the place of residence once again, but this time I am suggesting the date of February 24th.
There are places of 100 km. from home. But there is one brighter spot: Wyśmierzyce, 80 km away from us, in the GP surgery at ul. Maria Konopnicka – only that at 6.45. No way.
I look below and jessst! The doctor in Wyśmierzyce has time for my wife at 9.00. I book. A page with a booking confirmation or even a referral opens. And in a moment, an SMS and a confirmation e-mail will come and tell us that they will remind us again.
A Wyśmierzyce they boast that they are the smallest city in Poland. It was granted city rights in 1338 and in 2017 it was inhabited by 896 people.
My wife puts up an enthusiastic post on Facebook, and I walk around the house, figuring out how to convince the Doctor in Wyśmierzyce to try to collect beakers from several vials, maybe I could put my left arm under the needle as well.
Read also:
- Seniors alert: you cannot sign up for vaccination through the hotline
- Doctors: More and more seniors are dying. This is the result of meetings during the holiday season
- The most common side effects of vaccines. How many were recorded in Poland?