* Bloomberg…
In Mississippi, an online vaccine registration system buckled in a sudden onslaught of traffic. Officials at a local health department in Georgia had to resort to counting every dose they receive before scheduling appointments. A $44 million national vaccine scheduling and tracking system is going largely unused by states.
And California, Idaho and North Dakota undercounted vaccinations because workers forgot to click on a “submit” button at the end of the day.
Across the U.S., a vaccination campaign that was meant to reverse the tide of the pandemic and spur the nation’s economic recovery is getting bogged down by technical glitches and software woes. Cash-strapped public health departments are trying to keep their websites from crashing while booking millions of appointments, tracking unpredictable inventory and logging how many shots they give.
The situation unfolding across the U.S., home to technology giants, is frustrating a public eager for the inoculations. Further, gaps in the data could be distorting the national picture of how efficiently vaccines are being used, if some number of doses that are administered don’t get counted.
“Our sense is that it’s a substantial amount,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “That will become more clear as the data systems get improved and we get a better sense about what we’re missing.”
* Deloitte does it again…
So early in the pandemic, the CDC outlined the need for a system that could handle a mass vaccination campaign, once shots were approved. It wanted to streamline the whole thing: sign-ups, scheduling, inventory tracking, and immunization reporting.
In May, it gave the task to consulting company Deloitte, a huge federal contractor, with a $16 million no-bid contract to manage “covid-19 vaccine distribution and administration tracking.” In December, Deloitte snagged another $28 million for the project, again with no competition. The contract specifies that the award could go as high as $32 million, leaving taxpayers with a bill between $44 and $48 million.
Why was Deloitte awarded the project on a no-bid basis? The contracts claim the company was the only “responsible source” to build the tool.
In reality, many states are choosing to pay other vendors rather than using VAMS for free.
* Meanwhile, a recent poll of Georgians shows that 62 percent of respondents say they are willing to be vaccinated, while 34 percent say they are not. Of those who are not…
* And then there are the quacks…
* These folks need to be arrested…
After a group of protesters managed to disrupt operations at Dodger Stadium’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site Saturday, some Los Angeles officials expressed fury at the demonstrators while calling for increased security at testing and vaccination installations.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials closed the main entrance to the stadium — one of the largest vaccination sites in the country — for about an hour Saturday after 40 to 60 demonstrators appeared on Stadium Way holding signs that decried masks while shouting unfounded claims about the dangers of the vaccine.
The group dispersed around 3 p.m., and there were no arrests or injuries reported, said LAFD Assistant Chief Ellsworth Fortman, who oversees the department’s COVID-19 response.
* Related…
* Many who have received the coronavirus vaccine wonder: What can I safely do?
* Why America is ‘flying blind’ to the coronavirus mutations racing across the globe
* Anti-Vaxxers Won’t Stop Harassing Nurse They’re Convinced Is Dead
* Prosecutors: Chicago woman who works for Aldi shatters window at different grocery store after being told to wear a face mask
- Demoralized - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:21 am:
Indeed. Anyone who protests at a vaccination site and manages to shut it down needs to be arrested. Heck, they should be arrested just for being ignorant.
- Not a Billionaire - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:25 am:
So Georgia the next Illinois.Also their polls were pretty close unlike many others.
- LtWilder - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:27 am:
Plenty of consulting companies could have done that vaccine appointment contract: Accenture, Microsoft, Amazon, etc…
Isn’t Deloitte the hired consultant for IDES also?????
- JS Mill - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:27 am:
@Mr Jay Em wins the internet today.
- Not a Billionaire - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:27 am:
I am most enthused about JNJ . It was tested worldwide and has some effectiveness against both Brazil and South African varients.
- HangingOn - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:28 am:
Dr Held is an Opthalmologist. Hardly think that gives her the vast knowledge about the immune system she thinks it does.
- cover - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:28 am:
Deloitte also gave us the gig worker unemployment benefit program that led to all those fraudulent claims. And there are multiple other examples of Deloitte building half-baked IT “solutions” that turn into money pits. Why aren’t they on the state’s barred providers list?
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:29 am:
Will government ever figure out that using Deloitte for anything important is a disaster waiting to happen? Doing the same thing expecting different results etc., etc.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:34 am:
===is an Opthalmologist===
Her entire career is to provide additional man-made devices to correct for the defective eyes that her god made.
If her attitude about medicine was applied to her own career, she wouldn’t have a job.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:37 am:
Young men and liberals really don’t trust the health care system. Fascinating indeed.
- JoanP - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:39 am:
The Washington Post reported that, at the LA vaccination site, some people “nearly left the site when one protester who was dressed as a police officer directed them out of line”. Too bad it’s only a misdemeanor, because that’s vile.
- A Guy - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:41 am:
==Dr Held is an Opthalmologist==
Not defending her…but this specialty requires an MD first before entering the specialty, and considered as rigorous of training as Neurology/Brain surgeons. They’re very qualified professionals; which makes this comment even more confounding really.
- Frank talks - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:42 am:
Deloitte must have the best Government Affairs team out there. No bid contracts and up-charging? Who would have thought?
Also that GA poll has a lot to unpack besides just vaccines.
- Perrid - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:47 am:
95.6% of the Georgians in that poll voted in the presidential election, but only around 67% of voters turned out.
It’s not really news that the people who care enough about politics to answer a survey also care enough to vote, but it does make me wonder how it skews the data.
Also looking at questions 9 and 11, 37.6% of Georgians thought there was widespread fraud, but 54.6% want additional safeguards to stop illegal voting. Why do 17% of people who don’t think there’s a lot of fraud want to make fraud harder anyway?
- walker - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 10:58 am:
Who’s Deloitte’s clout?
- Not a Billionaire - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:01 am:
I would be interested to see it side by side with an Illinois poll.
If Georgia is the new Virginia then the democrats have an electoral college lock to join the popular vote. The can lose Wi AZ and NV.
- snow blind friend - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:07 am:
Deloitte destroyed the Tollway system 2 1/2 years ago and it is still not fixed.
After that and IDES disaster how can they get any contracts?
- dbk - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:22 am:
Here’s what happened in Philly when an Elon Musk wannabe 22-year-old Psych grad got the city’s vaccine contract:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/29/962143659/in-philadelphia-a-scandal-erupts-over-vaccination-start-up-led-by-22-year-old
Read it an weep, literally.
- Jason - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:22 am:
I have gotten the Flu shot every year since my early 20s which is over 35 years ago. I will get the vaccine as soon as I am allowed and it is available to me. I am an older socially independent fiscally liberal. I do not trust many things that the government does but the government is not medicine and I still trust the medical profession and have many family members who work in the medical profession.
The anti Vaccers should be arrested. They have no right to block people from getting the vaccine if we want it. Also, it could expire if not used. They need to be stopped. You don’t want it then don’t get it but I will take my chances over getting Covid over giving Covid to anybody else
- Marcus - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:26 am:
Why do we keep using Deloitte over and over and keep getting the same bad results. Anyone who has worked state government will tell you what problems this company causes.
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:27 am:
I do not believe that fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 election. I would also like voting systems reviewed to reduce the chance of fraud. No real conflict there. Some people will always try to cheat.
Would also like to see some voter suppression tools removed. The Texas requirement of having only one drive up voting place per county was designed to hurt the urban areas.
- Amalia - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:50 am:
Rich, spot on comment on the LA protest that stopped the vaccine distribution. arrest them.
- Lincoln Lad - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:57 am:
Consultants continues to get no bid contracts that repeatedly need to be supplemented at additional cost… and the systems fail to meet the expectation or need no matter the cost. That’s some secret sauce…
- Too cute by half - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 11:58 am:
Deloitte is a nightmare of ineptitude and I would rather see them squeezed out of existence then get another government contract. I wouldn’t trust them to distribute paperclips let alone track vaccines.
- @misterjayem - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:00 pm:
“Young men and liberals who wouldn’t want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus really don’t trust the health care system.”
75% of liberals said they would take the shot.
– MrJM
- Anotheretiree - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:08 pm:
So Rand Paul isn’t the only loon ophthalmologist out there.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:16 pm:
Thanks MrJM. I assumed because the highlighted question stipulated that these were people who refused the vaccine, that my comment was clear. Especially since I am a liberal and was once a young man. What is it they say about assumptions?
- countrygirl - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:34 pm:
Why would anyone or any agency use Deloitte for anything- what a disaster their software for anything has been.
- OneMan - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:40 pm:
Why the number of people who seem to want to take a ‘wait and see’ attitude with the vaccine doesn’t really surprise me.
Let me start by saying I will take it as soon as it is available to 50ish fat guys.
If you watch TV during the day a noticeable percentage of the ads are for “have you taken drug X or used product Y and then got A,B or C” you may have a case.
People today see a fair amount of TV advertising that basically says “They told you this was safe, it turns out it isn’t”. I think that has created a bit of mistrust in medicine when they tell you that something is safe. You also have drug ads in general that will rattle off a whole host of side effects.
You put all of that with how advice when it comes to COVID has changed over time (understandably since the understanding has changed) it is not surprising that there is uncertainty.
- Steve Polite - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 12:41 pm:
It’s ironic Dr. Held is anti-mask because of “God-given immune systems” but has a career treating diseases and maladies for God-given eyes.
- Brian - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 1:11 pm:
Plenty of smaller consulting companies could have done that work, but Deloitte’s relationship with the feds and CDC likely won them the work.
I don’t think Microsoft consulting does software development for customers. Amazon Web Services professional services would outsource it. Accenture would have been an even bigger disaster IMHO.
- Ben Tre - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 3:10 pm:
Google tells me Dr. Held is also president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons — a conservative group that has a)questioned whether HIV causes AIDS, b) said being gay shortens your life expectancy, and c) says there’s a link between vaccines and autism. In short, they’re nuts.
- Lurker - Monday, Feb 1, 21 @ 4:10 pm:
Why Deloitte?
The process of the State hiring a company requires things like minimal years in business which excludes many. Then, of the experienced companies, many quality ones (e.g. Accenture) are not eager to do business with any starters government and more specifically, Illinois.
So we are often left with a couple companies that qualify and Deloitte easily wins quite often.