Portal Glitch Caused People To Arrive At Skiatook Church In Middle Of Night For Vaccine

Thursday, the state health department apologized after a glitch in the portal system had some people standing outside a Skiatook church in the middle of the night to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

First Baptist Church is getting ready for another day of vaccines Friday, after taking last week's problem in stride, and working around the glitch.   

The parking lot is empty and snowy now at the First Baptist Church in Skiatook, but just a few days ago, dozens of cars filled the lot in the middle of the night, with people expecting to get their COVID-19 vaccines.  

"About 1 in the morning I was awakened by the police with people already lining up at the church,” Executive Pastor Scott Neighbors said.

Neighbors said people were informed by the state portal that they had appointments at odd times last Friday, like 3 a.m. in the morning. They decided to show up, proof some people are willing to sacrifice sleep for the chance to be vaccinated.  

"Initially there were a lot of people who had waited for two to three hours, who were getting tired, but they understand that it really wasn't a problem with anybody here, it was just a problem with the system,” Neighbors said.  

The state department of health is addressing the problem, saying in part, "We apologize for the issue and have identified the cause to avoid this occurring in the future. It is important for the public to be aware that our clinics currently operate during business hours." 

Neighbors said some people went home, then came back to the church gym later in the day to get their shot. 

The initial plan was to provide shots for about 600 people, but Neighbors said the county brought more vaccines over, and nurses ended up vaccinating about 900 people.  

"It was a good end to a bad day,” Neighbors said.  

The pastor said the church is taking 60-70 calls a day about vaccine appointments, and wants to emphasize, people must have an appointment through the state's portal in order to get a vaccine there. 

Below is the full statement from the OSDH District 3:  

“We are aware of a technical issue that occurred with appointment schedule times on Friday, February 5th at our Skiatook clinic. We immediately addressed the issue by notifying clients as quickly as possible and meeting the needs of our clients that arrived for vaccine to the best of our ability. Unfortunately, the issue led to appointments that were posted outside of business hours. We apologize for the issue and have identified the cause to avoid this occurring in the future. It is important for the public to be aware that our clinics currently operate during business hours, any appointments available outside of standard business hours - please call the county health department to confirm the appointment.”  

The state also said, “Everyone who received a mis-scheduled appointment in this case has since been able to receive the vaccine through the County Health Department.”