Ontario woman booked vaccine appointment, but it cancelled her mom's appointment

All Maria Cristina Savoiawanted to do was get vaccine appointments for her and her mother.

It seemed simple enough whenSavoiabooked an appointment in Niagara for her 78-year-old mother, also named Maria, back in March.

Savoiatyped in her mother's date of birth andhealth card number, but used her own email since her mother doesn't have one. The first and second appointments were booked for April 3 and July 24.

About a month after her mother got her first poke, Savoia became eligible to get vaccinated.

She put in her own birthday andhealth card number, but used the same email.

What landed in her inbox was a surprise.

"I see a booking and then I see a cancellation," Savoia said. "They had cancelled my mom's second dose and gaveanother first and second dose, but it only said Maria Savoia."

Province confusing two people as one

Because she and her mother have the same first and last name, and used the same email, Ontario's vaccine booking system confused them as the same person even though they have different birthdays and health card numbers.

The province confirmed Savoia isn't the only one who has dealt with this.

"The second person's appointment could in some instances cancel the first person's appointment. This feature was implemented to ensure people did not book numerous appointments or were not vaccine appointment 'shopping,' which would limit others from getting an appointment," a Ministry of Health spokesperson said in a statement.

Savoiasays she tried a whole host of things to resolve the issue, including:

1. Calling the appointment booking number.
2. Calling a provincial help line.
3. Calling Service Ontario.
4. Contacting her local public health unit.
5. Contacting the Ministry of Health.
6. Contacting a local MPP.
7. Contacting the assistant to the Deputy Minister of Health.
8. Calling her mother's family doctor.

None of it worked, she says.

"I've been like a ping pong [ball]," she said. "We're on our own."

Savoiaalso said one of the people from the province explained that her mother might need to wait even longer than plannedto get the second shot if it was rescheduled.

The thought of her mother waiting moreto get the second dose made Savoia emotional.

"She hasn't seen her own sister, who lives a couple blocks away, in person ... for over a year," she said, as her voice began to break.

"There's a level of guilt I feel trying to protect my mom and wanting this thing to end."

Mom got appointment without the province

After CBC News reached out to Niagara Health(the local hospital network that has its own vaccine clinics)for comment, staff there wanted to helpSavoia.

She said her mom now has an appointment for July 24 through Niagara Health, instead of booking directly through the province.

"Apparently they have continued to use the latter system because they need to intervene with scenarios similar to mine," Savoia wrote in an email withthe good news.

While Savoia emphasized she understood it may not be easy for all the workers and people responsible for the vaccine roll out, she wishes a better system was in place.

The ministry spokesperson said the province tweaked the booking system on May 7 to fix the issue.

For help with booking through the provincial online vaccine booking system, a spokespersonsaidpeoplecan call the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900.

Text Telephone (TTY) for people who are deaf, hearing-impaired or speech-impaired is1-866-797-0007.