Othena 4+

Registered my 83 year old parents on the website and uploaded the app to their phones. They wouldn’t have been able to do this on their own without my help. At first we weren’t sure if the app was working because every day it said there were no clinics scheduled. After about 3 weeks, they received an email that appointments were available for that day. They received the email around 8 am that 29 appointments were available, we went on the app and the latest appointment was 9:30 am at Disney, so we scheduled the appointments on the app and received a confirmation right away and we were able to complete the preregistration on the app, which was very easy to do. Luckily they live in Anaheim and I live in Orange. With such short notice, they wouldn’t have been able to fine the location themselves. We picked them up and drove them to Disney for the appointment. Once there, we found the process to be very well organized and all the staff were so nice. They had wheelchairs available that were cleaned and sanitized and were such a lifesaver. The line was long but moved fast and we were done with the whole process in about 30 minutes. So happy to have their first shot done and received a card with the second shot date.

Overall, a good app with people working very hard to register residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Some suggestions to improve the service include the following. Couples, who are senior citizens, should be able to register together and go to the same appointments together. Separate days can be very hard for some seniors. Also, it makes it difficult for seniors when they share an email address but cannot use the same email address for both people. The receipt message, after you register, should offer more specificity to help manage expectations with regard to appointment scheduling. Vague messages with no structure is what causes people to panic and to vaccine shop or submit multiple registrations, further clogging appointment and registration systems, slowing the distribution process. A receipt message that could help the end user understand the timeframe for when they will be able to get an appointment could help calm people. A better Othena FAQ on the OCHCA site would be helpful as well. All of this said, thank you for the hard work and for continuing to improve the app and process. Your work is making a difference for our community.

This is a great app as the developers have continued to improve its functionality as I have observed since January 12, 2021. The surprise decision to expand vaccine eligibility to the 65+ group in Orange County around January 12 probably has brought a flood of activities to the app prior to the open house event, initially targeted for February 2021, for the 65+ group. I have been able to use the app to successfully register, reset passwords, and get appointments since January 14. I believe certain limitations related to vaccine administration such as the number of available doses, vaccinators and support staff, and sites have constrained the availability of open appointment slots being displayed on the app. Additionally, likely hundreds of thousands of anxious folks constantly vying for a few thousands slots at this time (January 19, 2021) have created a sense that the app is not meeting expectations.

From a personal perspective, I hope the app will allow (1) folks to add or import vaccine records from outside Orange County, CA and (2) the vaccinated can show their in-app vaccine records as officially-approved immunization evidence for purposes such as domestic and international travels.