This man waited weeks for a vaccination appointment. It took a walk-in to get his shot

Alan Ernest signed up to receivehis COVID-19 vaccinationthe first day he was able to, but weeks later, the 58-year-old was still waiting for an appointment.

He signed up on April 1, when the province first opened up shots at pharmacies to people 55 and older. Hereceiveda confirmation code and an email that same day statinghe was eligible.

Ernest, who lives in Carlisle,works in cemeteries in arole considered essential. Still, he says, he was prepared towait his turn.

As the days stretched into weeks, he regularly checked his spam folder to make sure he hadn't missed an email from Shoppers Drug Mart, but he did not hear back, except for a message telling him he was in the system and to be patient.

Then, on April 19, Ontario lowered the eligibility age to 40.

"I was getting mildly concerned, especially after hearing there were appointments going unfilled because of some people's reluctanceabout AstraZeneca," said Ernest.

Still, he hadn't heard back. When he finally got through to thepharmacy by phone, he was told people 55 and older were now getting shots on a walk-in basis and he could come in any time after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Ernest said he was at the Waterdown pharmacy, in line, at 2:01 p.m.

There's a lot of anxiety among people about vaccinations as it is. The last thing we need is conflict and resentment being generated because that system's not working.- Alan Ernest

He spoke to a handful of people around him, and was surprised to find they were all in their 40sand had registered the day before.

Ernest received his shot that day, 20 days after signing up online.

"The system's not working from what I can tell," hesaid of the Shoppers online portal.

"There's a lot of anxiety among people about vaccinations as it is.The last thing we need is conflict and resentment being generated because that system's not working, and there's no information going out and no way of finding out what's up."

Pharmacies recognize system 'difficult' for some

Loblaw, the parent company for Shoppers Drug Mart, said its pharmacies have been using a combination of online bookings, phone calls and in-person visits to arrange vaccinations.

"That said, at this point we generally have just had more demand than we do doses, and understand that some customers have been frustrated with the delays," the company's public relations team said in an email.

Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, said the pharmacy program has led tomore than 300,000 vaccinations since it started in March.

Pharmacies aren't able to use the province's central booking system sohad to create their own, he said. They're working to communicatechanges around age eligibility and allowing walk-in appointments to customers as they happen, added Bates.

"We recognize the current system is difficult for some patients to navigate as policy and programs are rapidly evolving," he said in an email.

"Pharmacists are also working hard to manage a fluctuating supply of vaccines, and to book and schedule appointments or walk-ins with the information they have available to them at the time."

Ontario's website listing 1,407 pharmacies currently offering shots says most book appointments, but some allow walk-ins. Thirty-fivelocations were listed in Hamilton as of Thursday afternoon.

As social media was flooded with photosof people getting their shots this week, pharmacists in the Greater Toronto Area told CBC News thatdemand for the AstraZeneca has shot "through the roof"since the province lowered the eligibility age to 40 from 55.

Meanwhile, public health units collectively administered134,920 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday.

As of Wednesdaynight, 351,354 peoplehad receivedboth shots of a vaccine andmore than 3.2 million, about 26.5per cent of Ontario's total population, have had at least one dose.

'Happy to be vaccinated'

Ernest said he signed up to get his shot at any pharmacy in the Hamilton area, meaning his search wasn't limited to a single location, which should have lined him up for the first available appointment at a number of locations.

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He said requiring people to physically visit a pharmacy to register is counterproductive because it will bring them into contact with others.

He also expressed frustration with not being able to contact Shoppers Drug Mart, other than the pharmacy where he got his shot, to raise his concerns about issues with the online system.

"The underlying concern that it points to, for me, is that we have pharmacies, as private businesses, implementing part of a government vaccination program, and they've basically been left to their own devices to set up registration systems," he said. "And it doesn't seem to be working, at least in my case."

On Thursday, Ernestwasfeeling "happy to be vaccinated," but saidhe suspects he'dstill be waiting if he hadn't gotten through by phone and walked in to get his shot.

He encouraged anyone still waiting for an appointment to contact a pharmacy.

"They may tell you to come in and get your vaccination."