The Massachusetts vaccination scheduling website crashed Thursday morning as appointments for those aged 65 and up opened for the first time. Earlier this week, Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., co-signed a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker urging him to develop a centralized vaccine pre-registration system. Auchincloss spoke to Boston Public Radio on Thursday about the crash and how the state should pivot.
"I'm frustrated, and my constituents are frustrated," he said. "In a state that's one of the capitols in the world for technology and science, we need to be doing a better job for registration and distribution of the vaccine."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that by early spring, one of several more contagious variants of the coronavirus will be dominant here in the United States.
"We are in a race between vaccinations and variants right now," Auchincloss said. "We have months, not a year, to win this race."
Signing up to get a vaccine shouldn't be a difficult process, Auchincloss added.
"We've gotten to an age now in 2021 where user interfaces are really pretty seamless, and people have an expectation that within a couple of clicks they're going to have a low-friction, easy experience," he said. "This stuff is complicated, but it's solvable and forecastable and the kind of thing you can ensure you're pressure testing before it goes live."
