Online sign-up complicates the deployment of vaccines for the elderly

Denver (AP) — 83-year-old Howard Jones was calling for three to four hours each day trying to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine.

Jones, who lives alone in Colorado Springs, doesn’t have the internet, which made it much harder for him to make promises. He took about a week. He said the turmoil increased his anxiety about catching what could be a life-threatening illness at his age.

“It was hell,” Jones said. “I’m 83 and it’s terrible not to use a computer.”

As a national state Deploy the COVID-19 vaccine For people over the age of 65, older people are struggling to find a way to sign up to get their shots. Many states and counties require people to book online, but glitchy websites, overwhelming phone lines, and rapidly changing rule patchwork are often untechnical and preventative. It bothers elderly people who are likely to live far away from the vaccination site. Especially colored and poor people have access to the internet.

According to US Census Bureau data, nearly 9.5 million older people, or 16.5% of US adults over the age of 65, do not have access to the Internet. Access for colored elderly people is even worse. Over 25% of blacks, about 21% of Hispanics, and over 28% of Native Americans over the age of 65 have no way to go online. It is compared to 15.5% of Caucasian older people.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Dr. Rebecca is disappointed with the bureaucratic process and continues to seek help from the elderly. One of her patients, 83, was unable to shed tears and call her and navigate Rite Aid’s online booking system. This week, after a 92-year-old woman read about her in the newspaper, she called her before dawn and said, “I’ll do anything to get this vaccine.”

So the parish took things in its own hands. She contacted Contra Costa County and received 500 doses to vaccinate people this weekend at a junior high school in Lafayette, California. She works with nonprofits to identify older people who do not live in nursing homes and are at risk of falling into a crack. All her appointments were claimed, but she will start taking them again when the dose is available again.

Some health officials are trying to find other solutions to ease the turmoil and support the registration of older people, as the Trump administration urged the state to create 54 million people this week. Elderly people eligible for COVID-19 vaccine..

In some places, I’ve found simple ideas to work. In Morgantown, West Virginia, county health officials used large road construction signs to list phone numbers for seniors to request reservations. Others are considering partnering with community groups or setting up mobile clinics for hard-to-reach people.

Some older people may be waiting for a doctor to contact you. However, there are limits to using healthcare systems, pharmacies, or primary care providers to reach poorly serviced people who do not have the Internet, says Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immune Administrators. Says.

She said the two coronavirus vaccines available in the United States and their low temperature requirements were “not suitable for being sent to rural areas.”

In McComb, Mississippi, 77.5% of residents are black and almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. 71-year-old Mary Christian made an appointment online with the help of her son. However, the only site available is at least an hour away from where she lives.

“I’m 71 years old, but driving 1 to 200 miles away to get the vaccine won’t make my kids happy,” said a Christian with diabetes.

Some healthcare systems, such as UC Health in Colorado, are partnering with community groups to vaccinate poorly serviced people, such as the elderly.

Dr. Jean Kutner, Chief Healthcare Officer at UC Health University at Colorado Hospital, said he is volunteering at a church-sponsored clinic that helps build vaccines and builds trust between health care workers and residents. ..

For now, UC Health has made reservations online, but Kutner said the COVID-19 hotline is up and running due to the high number of calls from seniors.

Gretchen Garofoli, associate professor of pharmacy at West Virginia University, said: “Elderly people are used to the telephone side, so it’s not a technical barrier.

But even the Salud Family Health Center, a Colorado healthcare provider who has set up vaccine clinics for poorly serviced communities, said their phone lines couldn’t handle the volume of calls they received, saying. Encouraged people to access online.

If recalling an appointment is optional, finding the number is often only possible online.

That was a problem for Colorado’s 83-year-old Jones. A retired service member, he considered contacting a veteran, but couldn’t find a phone number.

He turned to a friend who gave him some numbers for help. One led to Angela Cortez, Head of Communications at AARP in Colorado.

According to Cortez, AARP is flooded with calls from seniors like Jones who do not have the Internet and need help navigating health department websites, healthcare providers, and vaccine registration forms. That is.

“You can’t show up somewhere and get vaccinated,” Cortez said. “And if you don’t have access to your computer, you’re at a disadvantage.”

Even Cortez had a problem when trying to help Jones. After Jones heard that her friend had been vaccinated, she called the numbers listed on the Colorado Health Department’s website and some Safeway stores.

Eventually, Cortez was told to sign up online.

“I’m an AARP employee. Second, I’m a communications director and a trained journalist. Three have computers and I can’t even contact anyone,” she said. Told.

A friend was finally able to get Jones to make an appointment for Saturday. However, he is dissatisfied with “having to go through side channels” instead of doing it himself.