People are losing it over how impossible it is to book a vaccine in Toronto

Though the vaccine rollout in Ontario is finally picking up some steam after months of being limited to very few specific groups, residents are still finding it absolutely impossible to try and snag a coveted appointment to get a jab, or even get onto a waiting list for an appointment.

It seems to be especially difficult in the province's most populous city, where people have been likening scrambling for a time slot to taking part in the Hunger Games.

This rollout was a complete joke. It shouldn't feel like the hunger games to get a vaccine. Two times I had a prompt that limited appointments were available, clicked, saw nothing there, then the site booted me off despite being in the queue. This is so disheartening.

— Pier DaPonte (@pierdaponte) April 23, 2021

Eligibility parameters have finally opened up to include not just the elderly and immunicompromised, but any citizens as young as 40 at pharmacies, or even 18 in dozens of hotspot postal codes serviced by pop-up clinics that are new this month.

Unfortunately, the sudden acceleration of the program has meant a rush of those who have long been waiting for their demographic to be called as they watch citizens of all ages get easily immunized south of the border.

everyone under 40 in toronto rn https://t.co/Dn0veDv08C

— Rach (@mylifeasrach) April 23, 2021

Younger age groups have been airing their frustrations online in recent days, citing wait times of multiple hours — sometimes over a dozen — to book a slot or even just join a registry for an appointment, only to find that all time slots had already been taken within minutes of becoming available.

Some are also citing captcha errors and other frustrating glitches in the system while they're clamoring to secure any sort of guarantee that they can, in fact, get a shot anytime soon as daily infection rates in the province remain high.

I’ve never experienced anything more competitive in my life than trying to get a vaccine appointment in Toronto

— miss vaccine (@liverrwurst) April 23, 2021

Just like Ontario's lockdown rules, many have found the process to book to be horrendously confusing in general, even before concerns about lack of available appointment times — now perhaps the biggest issue as relatively meagre and often-delayed shipments of needles become more accessible to more of the population.

While some wait a staggering 18 hours in a virtual lineup to get an appointment, others are waiting hours in physical lineups at mobile clinics, which are first-come, first-served and aren't taking advance bookings (if you can even figure out how to know if one is in your neighbourhood).

doug ford: bOoKiNg Is EaSy
Vaccine appointments at hot spot pop up clinics in Toronto booked within 3 minutes of being online. it seems years of experience booking One Direction, Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift concert tickets prepared my generation really well for this moment

— Carina Gabriele (@CarinaGabriele_) April 23, 2021

Others still are just trying to put themselves on any waiting list they are able to in lieu of being able to find an actual appointment.

@fordnation I tried calling you this morning but your line was busy.I am vaccine eligible and have joined 10 pharmacy waiting lists. How do I both follow the stay at home order and also drive to every f*cking corner of toronto to try to get a vaccine?

— Ari Cohen (@Arijaycohen) April 23, 2021

While so many are at their wit's end, there are still people finding a bit of humour in the situation, drawing comparisons between finding out where you can even get a vaccine to finding the address of an after-hours club, or landing an appointment to purchase rare merchandise from exclusive drops.

they’re really treating the vaccine like finding an after hours no info just follow the vibes https://t.co/0RPTagy109

— Carly Lewis (@carlylewis) April 12, 2021

Between the lack of spots and the speed with which they are claimed, the unclear criteria for vaccination and lack of information about how and where to get vaxxed, and the piecemeal sign-up system that has people jumping to multiple different websites of various hospitals, pharmacies and levels of government, people are understanably pretty exhausted by the whole ordeal.

But, at least they're not giving up, and are still eager to get the shot ASAP so we can try to get back to something closer to life as we knew it so many months ago.

of getting an appointment (again, *appointment,* not the actual shot) with hundreds if not thousands of other people at pop-up clinics around the city that doesn’t even know how many vaccines they have on hold

— kanika 🌹 កានីកា (@petalledheart) April 23, 2021

Thus far, the Twitter account for Vaccine Hunters Canada has seemed to be the most reliable source of useful information on how to get a shot as the Government of Ontario website simply tells those 18 and over that "Ontario Health Teams and hospital mobile clinics and pop-ups to be communicated directly to the community."