Getting the vaccine in my county (DFW) has been impossible. The state list of providers just doesn’t match up with reality. You call and they tell you they don’t have the vaccine. It’s been very frustrating.
In NC, we are not doing a very good job of getting people vaccinated yet when I have read articles on it or seen what the politicians are saying they continually claim they do not have enough vaccines. From looking at the info published by the CDC, we have received 852,000 doses but only used 267,000. I am amazed the media are not pointing out the discrepancy?
It looks like the best states at getting their citizens vaccinated are WV, ND, SD, and Alaska…any thoughts as to why those states are able to do what most are not?
@yearstogo the states that are doing well are also low population states. I suspect that is part of it.
California just permitted vaccinations for those 65 and over, but the sign up website does not permit this yet. You still have to show proof that you are a health care provider.
A friend in Oregon just got vaccinated. Word of mouth was that they were not checking to see if people were in the first tier at all. Just get in line. She got hers and she isn’t yet 65.
you are right, they are low population states but it seems it would be easier in high density areas to make a big impact pretty quickly.
Here’s an article about the rollout in West Virginia.
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Maine continues to get about 85% of its doses distributed. I wish the feds would recognize states that ARE doing a good job and send them more. I heard an administrator in a large health network in central Maine this morning - he said they are prepared to administer between 1,000 and 5,000 doses a day, but they just aren’t getting enough supplies. 
I believe they ARE considering the %age of roll outs @MaineLonghorn
CT has been doing a good job, and our governor said we would be receiving more vaccines because of this.
My husband, who has a high risk condition, got an appointment today for the first shot on 2/4. The state just opened up to that group (for under 65) and the office said the appointments are going fast.
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That’s good to hear. I haven’t heard anyone say that in Maine, so I hope it’s case here.
There was something in the news about 2 days ago that said that the government was going to send more vaccines to those states that are getting them in people’s arms quicker. I live in AL and feel like I’m doomed. They’ve done a poor job in getting people vaccinated, they also had a distribution problem from the federal government which probably contributed to that, they have very high rates of infection and the hospitals are full. And then, not sure if any of you saw the video of downtown Tuscaloosa after UofA won the football championship. Yup, thousands upon thousands of kids in the street, maskless. And let’s not forget all the grown-ups who had “a couple of” friends over for the game. Yup, expect our numbers to go even worse pretty soon. Those of us who are compliant with the rules and have changed our lives desperately need the ability to be vaccinated to save us from the recklessness of what seems like the majority in our state. Please don’t limit our vaccines!
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If you don’t insist on government control of every detail, you can get a lot done. From the WSJ:
[quote] South Dakota seems to rely heavily on private management and decision-making on the ground:
Besides planning, there has also been an unusual level of cooperation among health systems that are natural competitors. As part of the plan, the state was divvied up among five vaccine providers: The big three health systems, Avera, Monument and Sanford, as well as Mobridge Hospital and the Northern Plains Health Network. The providers agreed to take counties in which they didn’t have a presence, something Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said she appreciated.
Instead of a new government-designed plan for distribution, Gov. Kristi Noem (R., S.D.) has largely relied on existing methods for delivering care. The Argus Leader reports:
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The health systems already had established courier services for delivering medicines from their main hospitals to smaller facilities. Vaccines could piggyback along within that system.
That’s different than how other states have handled the roll-out, Basel said. For example, in Minnesota, vaccines aren’t going directly from the state to hospitals, but through a more complex distribution system that involves more layers. The system for distribution in South Dakota is “orders of magnitude less complicated.”
“We’re able to cut through the red tape and just do it,” Basel said.
*** [/quote]
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I have my appointment for Monday. Tier 1b. Vaccines are being distributed at hospitals. Appointments are made via phone. First you have to email or leave a voicemail and then they call you back. Somewhat inefficient but I guess the system can’t get hacked.
Colorado is currently in Phase 1B of its three-phased approach, The rollout has been inconsistent and fraught with issues. A major issue is the state doesn’t have enough doses to vaccinate everyone in the first phase.
I’m in Phase 1B and still waiting for an appointment. I expect to fall further down the list now that people aged 65-69 have moved up in priority. Hopefully, I’ll receive my first dose by late March.
Group 1b in Colorado is huge. My mother can’t get a vaccination and she’s 85. I have friends in 1b who already received the vaccines because they have health care related jobs (but they both are in administration and WFH).
They need to open more drive through places, just like the testing places. I think that now they’ve released all the “2nd shots” (and those will just wait for the next shipment rather than holding them in the freezers for 21-28 days), it will pick up.
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I agree about opening more vaccination sites. Hopefully, your mom can get the vaccine soon.
Still a bit dejected here in VA. H is a teacher and is supposed to be “soon.” At first we heard end of Jan. Then early February. Yesterday, the teachers were told mid to late February which means 2 months before he’s fully vaccinated. And I’ll be after that. We have no registration or sign ups or anything that I know of through the state. My source told me that our little hospital had 12 cases holding in ER waiting for beds yesterday. Our local case rate is double the state average - which isn’t good. And of course, now is when they decide to bring back the schools in person. SMH
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Would the demographics of AL suggest a relatively high rate of COVID-19 vaccine refusal, resulting in more vaccine left for those who want to get it?
I’m not sure, that’s really hard to say at this point how many people will refuse. I know my own H, who is a 1B because of work, refuses to get one. I know, I know, but you can only argue so much. So that makes it even more important for me to be able to protect myself. I just looked on-line and we are still only doing 1A. And less than 2% (yes TWO) of our population has been vaccinated. We come in dead last in the US. They will open it up to older than 75 and first responders on Monday. When they opened up a phone line, more than 1.1 million people called in to get on a waiting list (including me), so some people clearly want it, just maybe not the people in the category that’s able to receive the shot right now. Of course this is in my own best interest, but they should open up more categories if this is causing a delay. With cases running rampant, you need to get as many people immunized as possible as quickly as possible.
My parents’ advocate tried to preregister my parents for the vaccine in Austin, but the system keeps crashing, so many people are on it.
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