Welcome back. Health officials are trying to quickly set up systems to schedule Covid-19 vaccinations without leaving anybody out. Amazon, Walmart and others are giving online shoppers refunds without making them send in returns. And the digital edition of the Consumer Electronics Show is underway.

Health departments are finding mixed results as they set up their own appointment booking systems for Covid-19 vaccinations, Katie Deighton and Anne-Marie Alcántara report.

Some have so far relied solely on telephone hotlines, which can jam as calls pour in. Others, like Florida’s Brevard County, have turned to online ticketing platforms such as Eventbrite.

Eventbrite can handle a high amount of traffic at once and is accessible to many people with disabilities, said Jesi Ray, the county’s social media, marketing and communications specialist. But purely online systems can lock out underprivileged communities and elderly people with little technical knowledge.

“It is not lost on us that there’s a portion of our residents that are being left out,” Ms. Ray said.

Or, as a 34-year-old who made her parents’ appointments put it, “We’re trying to get this vulnerable group vaccinated against a deadly virus and we’re doing it the same way that I got ‘Hamilton’ tickets at the Kennedy Center.”

More retailers are telling online shoppers not to bother sending back their returns, Suzanne Kapner and Paul Ziobro report.

Amazon, Walmart and other companies are using artificial intelligence to decide whether it makes economic sense to process a return. For inexpensive items or large ones that would incur hefty shipping fees, it is often cheaper to refund the purchase price but let customers keep the products.

Lorie Anderson of Vancouver, Wash., was pleasantly surprised when she tried to return online purchases of makeup at Target and batteries from Walmart. The chains issued her a refund but told her to keep the items.

“It’s a hassle to pack up the box and drop it at the post office or UPS,” she said. “This was one less thing I had to worry about.”

Organizers of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, normally an unfathomably sprawling in-person event, had to change everything to produce a virtual version, Wilson Rothman writes.

In place of elaborate buildouts in the Las Vegas Convention Center and nearby venues, the top draw now are exhibitors’ “digital activations”—portals for presenting content, networking and having meetings.

Companies with deep pockets built highly visual, interactive experiences for people to try. Some exhibitors added live components. The conference also added hosts in the style of news anchors. 

Organizers created the digital CES with the help of Microsoft, which got experience as it hosted its own virtual conferences last year.

“If there’s anything we’ve learned it’s that you cannot translate,” said Bob Bejan, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for global events. “We’re really working in a different medium.”

At the event: LG used CES to announce what it calls a rollable phone, with a screen that can extend from the device to become a small tablet display. [Nikkei]

Bandsintown, a site where pre-pandemic fans looked up artists performing near them, introduced a $9.99-per-month service offering subscribers more than 25 live-streamed shows a month. [Pitchfork]

A new streaming service will give subscribers à-la-carte access to all content from hundreds of niche streaming services without having to sign up for each one. [WSJ] 

Fast-casual chain Just Salad introduced a meal kit service delivered by Grubhub. [Restaurant Business]

Walmart is testing “smart” boxes to hold grocery deliveries at shoppers’ homes, with sections for frozen, refrigerated and pantry goods. [BI]

Paris wants to transform the Champs-Élysées to make it friendlier for residents, not just a tourist draw and traffic artery. [The Guardian]

TikTok set the accounts of every user under 16 years old to private. [BBC]

The CIA is keeping the designer behind its new logo a secret. [Dezeen]