A SHOT AT THE SHOT

Austin reopens COVID-19 vaccine appointments after days of technical glitches

Vaccine appointments become available again tonight through Austin Public Health.

WPA Pool / Getty Images

KVUE — Austin Public Health is set to open COVID-19 vaccine appointments Thursday, March 18, just days after the department's portal experienced technical issues.

After hours of trying to work around the technical issues Monday night, APH said it had paused its scheduling system.

On March 16, the city said in a statement that the technical issues Monday night resulted in only 2,300 appointments being scheduled, and as the city works with the vendor on addressing the problem, APH is working to proactively schedule people who made it past the waiting room "and are also continuing to schedule through the Equity Line."

The technical issues were the result a new program code, APH said.

"We will continue to test the system to have a successful first dose appointment release on Thurs. evening," APH said.

Appointments are typically released at around 5 pm, but APH said they will post on social media 15 minutes before pre-queue is open. APH is releasing 4,500 appointments today.

Meanwhile, more than 237,000 eligible people are on APH's waitlist for the vaccine. It's important to note that some of those people may have received the vaccine elsewhere since being placed on APH's waitlist.

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To see the full story, head to KVUE News.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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