VACCINE: Testing patients’ patience

Trying to make a COVID vaccination appointment in North Idaho is more of a challenge than trying to buy something on eBay! Kootenai Health “released” its forthcoming available appointments at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Four available days, time-slots throughout each day.

We logged in at 4, each of us on our individual computers. As fast as we’d pick a time, we’d get a message that that time slot had already been selected. Within 10 minutes, all the slots were gone. My wife actually picked one, was texted a code to confirm it, but by the time she got the code and entered it, someone else got the slot. What a screwy system. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that our internet is via satellite, with a latency of over 700 — which means there’s about a 2-second lag between when you send something and it’s received.

Idaho needs a much better system than this. It’s like eBay and the lottery all rolled into one. Pity the old folks who have no computer skills at all.

I’m sure the IT folks that designed this system are congratulating themselves about their fantastic process — knowing nothing about how stuff really works out in the country.

Oh, well. We’ve come this far by faith, wearing masks and social distancing. We’ll keep on trusting the Lord, calling the phone numbers, hitting “enter,” and trying to find patience.

MARK DYMKOSKI

Rathdrum