Pediatricians can skip California’s glitchy MyTurn system for COVID vaccine, state says

California patients and doctors alike have complained for months about problems with MyTurn, the state’s website for managing COVID-19 vaccines. MyTurn’s flaws were a key reason why many county health departments initially resisted signing up with Blue Shield of California, the insurer hired by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to oversee the vaccination program.

Now, as eligibility for the vaccines is about to expand to younger Californians, the state plans to let pediatricians bypass the MyTurn system.

Sami Gallegos, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health’s vaccine task force, said Friday the state will exempt pediatricians from using MyTurn when vaccinating young people — as long as the doctors have their own electronic system for reporting vaccinations to CAIR, the California Immunization Registry.

The state’s decision, first reported by the news site Cal Matters, comes amid reports that the federal government will authorize the coronavirus vaccines next week for children ages 12 to 15. That would add more than 2 million Californians into the pool of eligible recipients.

Gallegos downplayed the implications of the decision, saying it affects “a very small percentage of clinics and pediatricians.” She said most medical providers are administering COVID vaccines “with no issues.”

‘The glitches of MyTurn are significant’

Yet the $50 million MyTurn system, developed for the state by Salesforce and administered by consulting firm Accenture, hasn’t been popular with the medical community, and problems have popped up around the state.

In February, for example, MyTurn was briefly sending Fresno County residents to vaccine appointments in Kings County, where they were turned away. At one point in late April, CalMatters said just 27% of the daily vaccinations in the state were being booked through MyTurn.

“The glitches of MyTurn are significant,” said Dr. Raelene Walker, a Santa Cruz physician and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Northern California chapter.

Aside from the system’s flaws, Walker said MyTurn puts a layer of bureaucracy between families and their doctors. That can become a barrier with “families that aren’t tech-savvy, families that don’t speak English,” she said.

It’s especially problematic when it comes to kids and vaccines.

“Shots are scary,” she said. “Most parents are going to be most comfortable with people they already know.”

Despite bumps in the early rollout of California’s vaccination program, the state has administered more than 32 million doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On a per-capita basis, that’s 15th best in the country.