[LINK] Federal & ACT COVID-19 Online Vaccination Booking Websites Need Improvement

[Tom Worthington]

Three of the top four hits from a Google search for COVID-19 vaccination 
booking were for the federal and ACT government websites, which is good. 
These encourage the public to book online for a vaccination, but make it 
difficult to do so. In contrast the one from a private provider worked 
much better.

The Federal and ACT Governments do not appear to have designed their 
vaccination websites to prioritize actually getting vaccinated. There 
are obvious flaws in the federal and ACT vaccination websites, including 
incorrect, and misleading formation, which by making it harder for the 
public to get vaccinated, is placing lives, and the economy, at risk. I 
suggest changing the government sites to make it easier for the bulk of 
the population to book a vaccination.

Suggested Changes:

1. Booking Link at Top of Page: Both federal and ACT governments should 
have a line at the top of their main COVID-19 web pages for booking:

Fifty or over? Book your COVID-19 vaccination now: *50+ Book!*

2. Show online booking sites first: The federal government page should 
display vaccination centers which have online booking first. Public high 
capacity clinics should be displayed first, followed by GP clinics, and 
GPs last.

3. Allow ACT residents to register online with ACT Health: The ACT 
Government should delete the map from their page until there are more 
ACT centers for the public to choose from. The Medicare number entry 
field on the MyDHR registration page should be changed to use the same 
format as federal government and private medical sites. The restriction 
that only existing patients can register should be lifted.

More at: 
https://blog.tomw.net.au/2021/05/improving-australian-federal-act-covid.html


-- 
Tom Worthington, MEd FHEA FACS CP IP3P http://www.tomw.net.au
TomW Communications Pty Ltd. PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia
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Honorary Lecturer, Computer Science, Australian National University 
https://cecs.anu.edu.au/research/profile/tom-worthington