Othena Reviews

by Bp543210

This is a horrible app with no real support. I cannot believe people’s lives are depending on this. The system accepts my address and even shows the unit number. When I click on it the way their own system displays it for me....then it only saves it without my unit number. You know many people have to use a space, unit, or apartment number. Why why why can’t you allow a correct address. Fix your app on many levels ...please ....cannot even make an appointment even when they are available. I was able to but it keeps saying cannot find a site within 5 miles. I never asked for one within 5 miles. Then I changed it to 15 miles to 20 to 25 but it pushes it back to a default 5. I will drive hundreds of miles for a vaccine. Please take out this map and forced issue of distance tool when people are trying to appointments to save their lives! Please care to fix this on your own. Please do not give me an email for customer service that has been ignored. Really fix these issues, please.

by Danimology

I’m in my 30’s and trying to navigate this process for my parents. If I can’t make this work, how are we expecting the elderly without help to get themselves into the queue??? When I login with the profiles I made my parents on the website, the progress heart pops up, starts filling % and then crashes me back to the login screen. Unacceptable that the vendor for Orange County can’t even provide the contracted service properly! I mean, who could’ve foreseen the demand for vaccination appointments during a pandemic, right?! Also, the ridiculousness of appointments not being available and not being queued - you just have to devote your life to constantly rechecking a webpage and hope you win the lotto... that’s reasonable to expect of everyone - especially seniors... What a mess. I hope this app is scrambling behind the scenes to actually deliver the service properly and gets whoever with OC to agree to a more reasonable appointment distribution process than crashing the servers via constant refreshing.

by RNessentialworker

I do not work in a hospital currently and am not employed by a major medical group. I am an advanced practice nursing student and have direct contact with Covid positive patients as a student in clinics/offices. Could not get into the ap to even begin the appointment process because I did not have access to the password. Later, I tried the website but that was crashed and then it indicated it would open at a certain time, and it did not. Under the tier system, I could figure out I was 1A second tier. I went to LA County site to sign up. It was more user friendly although it had some hiccups but at least it functioned. It did not need a password either to access it. I signed up for an appointment and drove to the site which was open for health care workers only and found the whole process well organized when I received the vaccine and after. Later, I went to the OC vaccine information website and saw that OC only gives vaccine to people who live or work there. I think that idea is too narrow because you are excluding people. The OC system to vaccinate was not taking into consideration the many health workers who are not working for hospitals or large medical systems.

by Abc Of Bingo

Where do I start? Of course I can’t schedule an appointment because it’s 730 at night and the appointment window hasn’t moved beyond today. There is no calendar there is only today. I’m not allowed to widen my search to see if there is another vaccination site anywhere in the area. You asked for my mailing address and you won’t let me put it in you keep sending me to a different address. He put in those little educational tabs -like what’s in the vaccine - but when you click on them half the information is cut off and you can’t read it and no way to widen the page. The cute graphics are not cutting it we actually need to schedule. I don’t know how this under developed application managed to become the place of scheduling for the orange county California area. It’s not ready! Not even a calendar! Is there going to be a way to know that if I get the Pfizer vaccine the first time where I can go to get the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine when I can’t widen my search or find a calendar? Do I just sit up all night and keep refreshing and refreshing until the next day of scheduled appointments suddenly appears? Terrible

by OCCA2021

I can’t believe that your group was given this contract for such a critical application and that this completely flawed piece of software is the jewel of your efforts. You bright bulbs also set your app for iPhone version 13.5 and above instead of going back a few versions thereby blocking many older users access to this awful app. Thanks a lot 🤬 So after having to spend hundred of dollars for a new iPhone I now get the fun of trying to access your lousy app only to have had a week of constant aggravation trying to use it. It regularly requires me to go to my computer to change my password; sometimes it says I have an appointment but it doesn’t tell me when or where and it doesn’t change the date to a future date but stays locked on the current date. Hopefully your investors will read the reviews from these users to evaluate your skill set. I think I would have a better chance of getting the vaccine just standing in line without an appointment and hope for leftover vaccine at the end of the day 😡!!!

by Doin' Light

Unfortunately this app is the only way you can get a vaccination appointment for Orange County. There are two phases in the process where it falls way short. The first is registration. On their website I filled everything out and hit the Register button and a green error message filled with technical jargon flashed in the screen for a few seconds. Other than that, nothing happened. The website and Othena does not provide any feedback at all. It took me three days of blindly casting about to get registered. The second area is making the appointment. When I received the message that a vaccine was available I tried to make an appointment on Othena . What I saw made absolutely no sense and getting an appointment was impossible. I tried the website with the same result. Strangely, I installed Othena on my iPad and it worked. From that point on Othena worked well. That’s why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1. It if you can’t register or can’t make an appointment when you are informed you are eligible, what good is it?

by Resolved Anxiety

I appreciate the staff’s willingness to show us how to upload info & check to ensure we knew how to navigate Othena . For my 1st vaccine I received an email at 8:10 am that 3 appointment times were available for 9, 9:15, & 9:30. By the time I clicked on it, the only time was 9:15. I live 35 minutes away & I arrived just a bit late. Once I was there the entire process was quick, easy & organized. 2nd appointment date remained the same as scheduled & I received email confirmation several days prior.
Overall Othena worked as designed but it isn’t easy to navigate, especially at first when trying to procure an appointment. I was in a waiting room fir more than 3 weeks. Patience is needed.
There should be a FAQ section so that people who get frustrated or have questions could get answers and feel reassured. When all of my friends had appointments and I was still in a waiting room, I felt like there must be something that I missed or didn’t do when using Othena , which added to the anxiety.

by 💖💖🤣👍

Overall, a good app with people working very hard to register residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Some suggestions to improve the service include the following. Couples, who are senior citizens, should be able to register together and go to the same appointments together. Separate days can be very hard for some seniors. Also, it makes it difficult for seniors when they share an email address but cannot use the same email address for both people. The receipt message, after you register, should offer more specificity to help manage expectations with regard to appointment scheduling. Vague messages with no structure is what causes people to panic and to vaccine shop or submit multiple registrations, further clogging appointment and registration systems, slowing the distribution process. A receipt message that could help the end user understand the timeframe for when they will be able to get an appointment could help calm people. A better this app FAQ on the OCHCA site would be helpful as well. All of this said, thank you for the hard work and for continuing to improve Othena and process. Your work is making a difference for our community.

by FreeRange4

I registered a week ago and received an email notice from Othena at 8am today informing me I could book my appointment THE SAME DAY for my first shot. I booked it for 11am. It only took me 30 minutes to get it once I was in line at the Disneyland parking lot - you park your car and walk to line. Othena worked perfectly. It even automatically booked my second shot once my first was confirmed.

The only criticism I have for Othena is that it needs more information upfront to let you know what is going to happen. People are having a lot of anxiety because the info in Othena is pretty sketchy. It should break up intro and steps to register into bullet points and let you know that, once registered, Othena will send you notice when your shot is ready - it’s your turn to go back into Othena to set day and time. The key point - You don’t need to login repeatedly to check on status!!! You are inline electronically so be sure to pre-register in Othena with all your info!!!

by Watch Too Much TV!

Othena is very simple to use.
Somehow my password didn’t work one day and I had a terrible, terrible time getting the reset link to send me an email to reset it. I sent multiple messages to tech support and didn’t get any response. I finally got a call about 6 weeks later and the rep kindly reset my password for me.
Once I got back in. I was able to sign in regularly to check for appointments and once there was one available, easily make one.
Completing the questionnaires and uploading insurance info was very easy.
The process on the day of, also was super simple. The flow at the location was very well organized and folks very professional and friendly.

by Dicohead

I appreciated the ease and interface of Othena . Easy to maneuver I believe.

I was not able to book an appointment at first and felt that I forgot that I applied and weirdly felt like it was impossible to get it. I wonder if there is a way to send notifications that mention we are still waiting on availability. It just felt like a void between trying to unavailability to the time of getting my appointment. Not trying to be entitled but just trying to say that in these sensitive times it’s be best to be transparent. It took 3 weeks to get my booking after initial applying. I don’t think that’s a long wait but the void leaves one feeling odd.

Also maybe let us know that you really need a letter for approval if it “might be iffy you are eligible.” As of now it’s just part of a suggested list so thinking you bring 2 other documents it’s enough. The letter seemed to be a key factor if you aren’t a nurse or clinician, But a patient facing worker in a healthcare center.

by Wolfsbare

Upon downloading Othena , I found it to be somewhat user friendly. However, even though it reflected no available appointment sites in your area, it showed a one line current date, which in other apps allows one to select another date. Othena would not. It became quite frustrating at times. About 8 days after getting Othena , I received a text and an email stating it was now time for me to schedule my appointment. At that point last night, I was able to scroll the one line date and time area to view available times. 12 hours after receiving the text, I received my first vaccine at the Disney super pod.
The great thing about Othena , within 5 minutes of receiving my shot, this app already had my 2nd appointment scheduled for 2 weeks later.
Spoke to an this app rep while waiting my 15 mins after shot care and relayed all I just wrote.
Overall, it’s turning into a great app, thank you this app

by Jnut93

I’ve just gotten my second dose, my 90 year old Mother in law got her first, so I’ve made 3 vaccine trips total so far. I would say that considering what they have set out to accomplish, the this app team is doing an amazing job. With that said, however, there are kinks to work out. A 94 year old ahead of us was turned away because her caregivers had no proof of OC residence. I and two others also did not have proof of residence for our elderly relatives. Personally , they didn’t ask for anything when I got my first shot, so I wasn’t worried about having it for my mother in law —So be prepared! It was heart breaking to see them turn away elderly people. Also , there are wheelchairs available, but frankly I was having an asthma attack by the time I got my mother in law to the check in from pushing her with a mask on —why is this not a drive through set up like Dodger stadium?

by Debbieamv

Overall lots of great improvements since using it early in Jan to get 87 and 92 year old in laws vaccinated. Although there is feature needed before lots of young people under 18 start getting shots. Went today to Disney to get my son who works as a food server vax and couldn’t get it because because of the age limit of 18 for Moderna. He’s 17. Othena knows his age/birthdate and should have the Disney sites grayed out with a msg that Moderna is only for 18 and older. Perhaps it was somewhere in fine print somewhere but never saw any notice of this until we got to the site. A suggestion that would hopefully help others not have this same experience. Thanks for continuously making Othena better and helping us all though this challenging time. It’s appreciated!

by HBUser62

This is a great app as the developers have continued to improve its functionality as I have observed since January 12, 2021. The surprise decision to expand vaccine eligibility to the 65+ group in Orange County around January 12 probably has brought a flood of activities to Othena prior to the open house event, initially targeted for February 2021, for the 65+ group. I have been able to use Othena to successfully register, reset passwords, and get appointments since January 14. I believe certain limitations related to vaccine administration such as the number of available doses, vaccinators and support staff, and sites have constrained the availability of open appointment slots being displayed on Othena . Additionally, likely hundreds of thousands of anxious folks constantly vying for a few thousands slots at this time (January 19, 2021) have created a sense that Othena is not meeting expectations.

From a personal perspective, I hope Othena will allow (1) folks to add or import vaccine records from outside Orange County, CA and (2) the vaccinated can show their in-app vaccine records as officially-approved immunization evidence for purposes such as domestic and international travels.

by Globe Trotting Robin

We DID get an email to make an appointment. Was quite easy to book. Car lines were long but always moving. Once we parked, lines with appointment times were clearly marked; and people were there to direct (appropriate, being on Disney turf, which is the master of lines). We are both vaccinated only one hour after our appointment time (we arrived to the site by car 35 minutes before our appointment.). Everyone was really friendly, patient and helpful.
Two things:
1. even though they don’t say in the instructions, make sure you have some official paper with your Orange County address (so my passport was not sufficient and I don’t have a CA drivers license yet.).
2. Download the this app app beforehand and get signed in on that. The process will be smoother and faster.

by All About Clips 🎥

I’m very impressed with how well it was organized starting off with the parking then coming to the assigned appointment posted on the doors then coming into the convention being escorted to designated tables and a small assessment was done afterwards the injection then you wait for 15 minutes in the process all took was no more than 15 minutes plus you got a wait 15 minutes before leaving due to no reactions to the vaccination. All in on my experience was great I feel great and it is a blessing to get the vaccination. I encourage everyone to go through this experience that I went through at the Anaheim convention Center. Also got to put out a shout out to all the employees there great pleasant professional kind and very welcoming which is important when you entered into an unknown facility.

by Bobshart

I had a good experience with the this app app. I am a nursing student and have direct contact with patients during our clinicals. When my school informed us we were eligible for the vaccine I immediately made an account with the this app app expecting to be able to pick my appointment in advance but for about a month it told me no appointments were available. After that month or so I got an email stating that I was finally able to get my vaccine appointment. Othena only displayed 3 days in advance which was bit overwhelming after waiting a month with no hope in sight, but I ended up rescheduling to my desired date. The process from picking my appointment to actually receiving the vaccine was very smooth. I also enjoyed the timer it gave you during the 15 minute wait period after receiving the vaccine. Overall I had a pretty smooth experience using Othena. I would recommend it to others.

by NicolethegeekBaello

In my honest opinion, this process is so easy.🤍 The only think that really got me struggling, was the way to get to the vaccine. The signs everywhere were a bit confusing🥺, and the extra standing in lines really got me super sweaty and tired, but as soon as you get into the actual warehouse room, its super simple and fast. All people I have interacted with were very nice and sweet. I was able to ask personal questions about if it hurt or if it was going to sore for a long time. The people who asked me to send my honest feedback were actually very nice and gave the credit too all the people who are giving the vaccine! ✨ This this app experience was worth the wait and after i signed up a few weeks later i got my appt. then headed towards the vaccine site when I knew the date, and everything was simple!Hoping this will come in handy once my parents and grandparents and other family members have the chance to receive the vaccine! Actually Great Work! 💜

by Purple. 😁🥰💜

I just got vaccinated! It was super convenient and easy! I downloaded the this app app and found that I was eligible for the vaccine. It took a few tries, but then it showed up that an appointment was available on a particular day , with 3 choices of times so signed up for a time.

On the day of the vaccination, I completed my Pre-Assessment in the car before arriving. I arrived early, went through the very organized parking lot, walked down some stairs, into the pre-area where they checked my ID and scanned in my QR-code in Othena ; then the very welcoming volunteers told me where to go and I walked straight up to a table where the nurse gave me the vaccination. I in the waiting area now, where you go for 15-min afterwards to make sure you feel ok. I feel great as I’m writing this and an excited that soon - after the 2nd dose, I’ll slowly slowly be able to get back to my normal life and activities!

My advice is: Don’t wait, get Othena & sign up for a vaccination!

by StockLoverBoy

There’s no way to create a new account. It only allows to log in and scan a QR code. How can one log in if they never get a chance to create a new account? Emailed the software developer, no answer yet. Still waiting...

by Travelgoddess1

As others have said, Othena does not allow you to create a new account.

by CaseyLippmeier

After installing Othena I only have options to log in, but not to create a new account. It’s unclear how I’m even supposed to use Othena. I can’t find any documentation online about this either.

by OCJoeR

You’d think in the state with more high tech firms than most others someone could write an app that would allow a user to set up an account, the first thing you have to do in Othena . The opening page asks you to “Log In” or scan a “QR” code. There is no option to “Create “ an account nor any information regarding this “QR” code. No wonder everyone is moving out!!!!

by I Want My Vaccine

Othena is the only way to get my vaccine through my job and Othena KEEPS CRASHING! I’ve been trying to set my an appt for three days and it keeps having errors just to set up and appt. I just had another two coworkers and more clients test positive so it would just be REALLY NICE to get my vaccine.

by Stressed218821

Othena needs more development!! I scheduled an appointment but only to have it change the appointment to a time that had already passed. Tried to reschedule the appointment, nope! Not an option, anywhere in Othena . Updated to the new version of Othena , my old appointment disappears and no way to make a new appointment! Waited in line at the vaccination site, told I couldn’t go in without an appointment! Asked how to do so, I was told have to wait until I can through Othena ! Lost in limbo. 😡

by Inanna8691

How do I create an account?? Opens with option to login or scan QR code with no option to sign up🤷🏼‍♀️Error message (of course) when login is attempted but, again, with no option to create an account

by ClaudioVarga

Cant even get on without it crashing.
They out the lost password button here next to enter. Cant help but hit that nearly every log in. Just a terrible piece of programming.

by Blue Lemur

Crashes constantly. Tries to make appointment for 1 site that it says is available but constantly redirects to another site miles away. Finally makes appointment and there’s no confirmation page or address of site or anything. No confirmation email and you can’t go back to informational page. So it says you have appointment but you have no idea where and when. Just terrible.

by Schu0597

Testing? Vaccination? If only my state (Mass) was using something do brilliant and easy to use. I like the information as well.

by Jamie123455829;73

The interface for Othena is very straightforward and easy to use. this app makes it easy to get vaccinated!

by Dkoala88

It was really easy to set up my profile and get started. Looking forward to getting vaccinated.

by Crashguy05

Wow...CuraPatient has done it again. I can track my quarantine, use a virtual assistant for questions, schedule a test at a clinic as well as a vaccination, see my results on my device, carry a digital record of my vaccination on my device and more. I LOVE Othena! I also think it’s cool how I can see my medical support professionals in-app too. THANK YOU!

by Mr. Slash

Of all the bad news that has come from COVID, this can be the light at the end of the tunnel. It is intuitive and made me feel supported during what normally would have been a scary process. If only all aspects of health care were like this!

by Endthispandemic

This is easily the best app I have seen for COVID Vaccine and testing and is a must have!