I think this plan is going to fall by the wayside. And there are lots of poor people who don’t have a regular doctor. Requiring them to get a doctor’s letter would be creating an obstacle to their getting the vaccine.
5 Likes
NJ is honor system when it comes to medical conditions. They view it as PHI (personal health information).
2 Likes
It’s so interesting how things work in different states.
In my state, Michigan, it does not look that you can schedule a vaccine unless they have already approved that group. Not on line at least as far as I can see.
I tried to check on several websites to see how things were going. Health department, only if you are 65+, healthcare worker. Other essential workers and the list was VERY specific. Sign up to be on a waitlist. Do not call us. You must be a resident of that county.
A neighboring county has suspended all clinics because they are only getting enough vaccines for second shots.
I tried on a pharmacy website. Register, but once you say you aren’t a health care worker, you cannot go any farther on the sign up.
My medical practice website. No information about vaccines at all.
I’m a pretty savvy online user. All I’m finding are dead ends.
This is long winded way of saying that it’s interesting to see how other states are implementing this. It’s very interesting that they are allowing those who will be eligible in the near future to schedule vaccines. That does not seem to be the case here.
How (again!) I wish there was an easier, more standardized system of signing up for these vaccines.
2 Likes
I wish all states were required to publish weekly their vaccine distribution to pharmacies, health depts, etc, and to maintain drive thru centers at football stadiums.
MA decided that if you are accompanying someone 75+ to a COVID vaccine appointment, you can make an appt and also get vaccinated, regardles of your age or health.
So now craigslist, et al, are full of offers, willing to pay the elderly for the privilege of driving them to their appt, getting themselves vaccinated in the process.
Saw a woman on the news who is in her early 70’s saying she considered doing that. She said if she committed a crime and was imprisoned or took up smoking, BOOM, she would move to the front of the line.
Now that the NFL season is totally over, perhaps more of those NFL stadium sites WILL have large drive thru vaccine sites. The NFL has offered all 30 of their stadiums for this purpose.
1 Like
Ugh! It is going to be so cold in Austin on Monday (near 0 F, which hasn’t happened since 1949) that my parents’ vaccination appointments have been canceled. Their advocate is trying to get them rescheduled. 
Ga does. they have a weekly list per county of which places got how many vaccines and how many their ordered. For example, our doctors practice (a large one) has orders in , but has only received 600 doses so far. The publix, krogers, pharmacies, etc are all on the list.
Yes, all of the pharmacy sites - cvs, walgreens, and rite aid here in NJ, require you to pass the questionnaire first before you can get to the appointment scheduling page. For NJ, one question is smoker, you also have to check that you are telling the truth on that questionnaire.
The worst roll-out award seems to go to Montgomery Cty, MD, which had scores of elderly lined up outside in freezing temperatures for hours at Montgomery High School, and then ended up turning some away. Hope voters remember that fiasco in November.
Went on our state of Colorado public health site and chose my county. Saw a new system to sign up for in addition to the others I had already signed up for my in my county. After one hour of signing up and going through hoops for H and I, I realized the state made a mistake on the county list and it was the wrong site that was listed in our county. 4 Hours away in the summer weather. It was not at all obvious until I finally googled it.
I suspect that requiring people to prove their underlying conditions would just result in more delays and bottlenecks, which is why NJ has decided not to do it. It is, as Oldfort says, really an honor system. There are going to be people who take advantage of it, for sure. But I think that the states who are being very restrictive don’t actually have the logistical ability to deliver vaccines quickly and efficiently to the target population that needs them. So their strictures don’t help get jabs in arms ASAP. Stocking local pharmacies and doctors in the community with vaccines and providing outreach to elderly living alone through visiting nurse services is something they are not able to do.
The only reason that we were able to make appointments is because we are willing to drive 1-2 hours or more to get them.
A major advance in Fairfax County VA today. The Health Dept has posted a dashboard with a lot of info about the vaccine, but the most important thing is there is a link to verify that you’re on the list (there has been much misinformation about people getting “lost”) and saying what date is having registrants scheduled. I’m not the only person who has been stressed that I couldn’t get that info earlier, and there has been much vocal demand to make it available.
1 Like
Well, it means opening up to anyone willing to lie. Not everyone is.
In my experience, they asked a bunch of questions about medical history. But they required zero documentation, which admittedly could be unwieldy in a situation where time is of the essence. But if it takes much longer to get vaccines available to the general public, I expect we will see an increasing amount of younger people with “underlying conditions” getting vaccinated.
1 Like
My 83 y/o stepdad with several serious underlying conditions has been having trouble getting scheduled for a vaccine. He lives in rural north Texas. Today, his hospital system called and said they got his name from the county waitlist and gave him and his wife an hour’s notice to get to the hospital for their vaccines. Fortunately Snowmageddon has not hit us yet (expecting many inches of snow-unheard of here-next week), so they were able to make it to their appointments.
I’m very relieved about that.
18 Likes
I think it’s important to keep in mind that things are changing fairly rapidly, so whatever guidance & information gets issued one week might be obsolete by the next week. I agree that there is tremendous variation in the quality of vaccination procedures from one region to another, but it’s also important to keep in mind that local agencies and health care providers still may not know with certainty how much vaccine they will have from week to week.
My drive-through vax process locally was seamless and handled perfectly – but there really was no announcement in advance as to how to sign up. I just got notified because I had signed a local county “notification” list that promised nothing beyond email notice of when I became “eligible” for the vaccine – I had no idea that I would be receiving an email with links to sign up for appointments a few days later. But I think that the goal is to get as many people vaccinated as possible, with the understanding that everyone will have access to the vaccine sooner or later. Given limitations on vaccine supply, no matter what system or protocols are in place, it just isn’t possible for everyone to be at the front of the line at once.
5 Likes
You cannot get an appointment here until your group is up/ This week opened to teachers and those 65-69, so now they can make appointment IF they can find one. Some places are doing the big drive thru events, but they are mostly second shots. When they complete those, maybe they’ll do others for new Group 1b.2 members.
My doctor (part of a big health system) said we’d be notified when our group is called up. Our info is on MyChart, their online system. Through that they know our ages and whether we have 2 or more medical conditions that moved us into 1b.3. Sure there are a lot of people in that group who don’t have doctors, but they’ll have to find another way to make an appointment.
It’s all on the honor system here. If you sign up and say you are 75, you can get on the list. No one is checking IDs. Medical workers and teachers might have to show IDs because their employers are making their appointments.
1 Like
I’d been checking vaccine availability with my healthcare provider, Kaiser several times a day; day after day. Finally I signed up for vaccine notification notices with my state, county and city. On Tuesday I received an email that I could make an appointment online. I signed up immediately and was able to book a Thursday appointment. The whole process at the drive-thru site was efficient and quick. I was amazed! I’ve already got an appointment for my second shot and the vaccination site was minutes from my home. I received the notification from my city public health department. I feel incredibly lucky!
1 Like
For some reason, Kaiser is getting smaller numbers of vaccines relative to the number of people compared to the rest of the state.
For example, Kaiser Permanente Northern California COVID-19 Information shows the number of vaccine doses received by Kaiser Northern California and the number used. As of February 10, it has received 269,500 doses and used 261,541 (97%) of them. But since Kaiser Northern California has about 3.35 million subscribers, the number of doses is only 8% of its subscriber base (or enough to fully vaccinate 4% of its subscriber base).
In contrast, in the state of California, a number of doses equivalent to about 19% of the state population (or enough to fully vaccinate 9.5% of the state population) have been delivered; about 69% of those have been used.
Kaiser has been saying “we’ll call you when we have a vaccine for you”, presumably to avoid jamming up phone lines and web sites, but if they are not getting vaccines, they cannot give them (although they do seem to be quick in getting what few doses they get to patients).
1 Like
Massachusetts is still working on vaccinating 75+ and just started a policy whereby a companion who brings the elderly person to the vaccine site can also get a shot.
This will delay vaccines for 65+, certain essential workers, and younger people with health conditions.
Immediately solicitations popped up on craiglist offering rides in exchange for vaccines.
I received notifications from two major MA health care systems that they no longer have any vaccines.