Have you (not medical or first responders) received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine yet?

No vaccines available here in Southern CA, even though first responders and medical personnel, and those aged 65 and older qualify. Some people in those groups have gotten them, but the website to get the appts is almost impossible to get through on, and if you do, it says no appts available.

I’m in Florida. I’m too young to get it now, but most people I know who have been vaccinated here had trouble getting an appointment, they had to log in online and get lucky, but then the appointments were within a week if I remember correctly. The only exception was one county near me you registered and then they contact you, and that county it took weeks for people to get the appointment, and many people are still waiting.

Parts of Florida also had first come first serve lines and people lined up either the night before, or some locations very early in the morning.

It was getting much better in Florida a few weeks into the process and then the vaccine shortage became a big problem.

My parents live in Maryland, but that doesn’t really matter, because they were vaccinated at Bethesda Naval/Walter Reed. They were contacted via patient portal about 2 weeks after the Pfizer was approved that they are listed for the vaccine. They didn’t have to do anything. A few weeks later they received a robocall they could get vaccinated the next day, just show up between 8–4. Something like that. They waltzed in at 10:00, barely a line, all very simple. A week ago they received information that my mom, she’s the dependent, may not get her second shot on time. She very upset she did the vaccine without any guarantee of when she can get the second dose.

I know a friend of mine in Michigan has been trying online to get her parents appointments and it seems it is very frustrating in that state too.

Sorry for another post.

Initially Hospitals had their own process and as everyone knows there are contracts with CVS and Walgreens for long term care. Then not much after Florida was getting vaccinated at designated health department sites for 65 and older. It was not at the health department, but the county health departments were using various locations in the county like recreation centers, churches, convention centers, etc.

After a few weeks Florida expanded to Publix supermarket and where I live a private company set up tents in a central location and did a lot of vaccinations.

Made an appointment on January 13th to get it on January 29th in a town about a half an hour away. There are so many glitches in the systems so I’m not sure at this point whether it will actually happen. I know some people who have gotten it here but most people are frustrated so far and not getting appointments or showing up for one and being told they haven’t gotten an appointment.

Otherwise, I’m on a list with the state and the county but nothing through there yet.

First shot last Tuesday. It was sheer unscheduled luck.

@stanleybmanly

Do you have an appointment to get your second shot on Feb 16?

YES. How did you know THAT??

Nope. I’m not due to consider it until after Feb. 1st.

I called my doctor’s office and they put me on a list. I’m not a high priority. Just waiting for the call.

I can’t sign up yet, I will when I’m eligible.

@stanleybmanly

I’m a very nosy guy! ;-o

Actually, I read that Dr. Fauci says the recipient should get their second shot, 28 days after the first one.

No.
Right now, only old people, caregivers and medical personnel are authorised to receive the vaccine.

Kaiser online says I will be notified when it’s my turn. I will be 78 on Saturday.

@Brian1946 it is still flabbergasting that you pulled the exact date.

65 and up in my county; drive thru !

No appointment you just had to be over 65, they did 2200 with 110 health care workers, police, fire, EMTs and high school volunteers. They used a high school parking lot
From start to finish was an hour, tThatincluded 15 minute wait at the end to see if people had a reaction to the vaccine.

They tried phone in appointments the week before and the phone system for the county totally failed for the entire county.not just the Health Department.

Scheduled for second shot in February, no wait for second shot.

Nope. Too young to matter and state is running low. Shrug.

Yes, this past Friday afternoon. At the County Health Department.

Made an appointment about 10 days ago. I showed at 5:45pm (appt was for 6). Was out of there at 6:15.

Easy peasy.

(note: I am over 65)

Thanks for all the responses.

Looks like I’m in OK shape.

FYI: Several weeks ago my family practice nurse contacted me through “My Chart” telling me that she would contact me about getting the vaccine. Nothing happened. Last week I asked her for the latest information and to please schedule me for a vaccination. She gave me a link on the hospital website to get an appointment. The site told everything you would want to know about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID 19 except making an appointment for a vaccine. So I searched the entire hospital website and found an obscure place to make an appointment. I felt like I hacked into it. I spent well over 2 hours searching for available dates. There was no indication as to wether the dates listed were filled or not. Also when I discovered that a date was filled then I had to go out and start over and got lost doing it. Also some of the required information was my race (white, Latino, black, Native American, Asian). My DNA is 10% Native American and 4%. But I just said I’m white. Maybe I would have gotten an earlier date if I put down something other than white. HA! Anyway the whole process seemed convoluted and nebulous to me. Like it was purposely designed to be difficult.

Good health and stay strong!

I got the first shot this past week here in Alaska and was scheduled for the second before I left the site. It took me two tries on the state’s website to get on the waiting list, but I lucked out and got online and made all the right clicks and got in on the second major offering in my area. Alaska seems to be doing a better than average job of getting the vaccine out, especially given that vaccines have had to be delivered by not just planes and boats but, no lie, snow machines and apparently dog sled. Happily I just had to drive to our borough fairgrounds and was in and out in about a half hour. I think there was a week between when I got the appointment and when it was. Arm where they gave me the shot was a tad sore at the injection site, fairly common for me with any shot, but that went away fast and no other reactions. Hope my luck holds with the second go round at the same site. The plus is that since they made an appointment for me on site before I left, I don’t have to jump through the hoops online again to try to get an appointment. I just have to show them my card they gave me with the second appointment time/date when I check in. Sadly, I still have friends who are eligible but have had no luck.

Just reading some of the responses and note the headache of dealing with the online sites seems to be a constant. Fortunately, after most had difficulty with our site here, the website seemed to make major adjustments and tho’ certainly not simple, was far easier to navigate the second go-round for me.

I have a while to wait because I’m not super old and I’m not a first responder or “essential” worker. And I’m OK with that. Why some people think they should be at the head of the line for no reason is beyond me.

@gondwanalon I’m surprised they can make a date so far out in the future with the uncertainty of vaccine shipments.

Someone just posted on my covid Facebook group that her county in Florida contacts you 2 days ahead. So, you sign up to be on the list, and then they contact you with an appointment for two days later. I think (I’m guessing) they wait to actually schedule when they have vaccine in hand.

I just a confirmation email for my appointment on Friday. This agency seems to have their act together. Woo hoo!

@janbb Wow you just have to wait 4 days! That’s quick. You must be elderly ( me too). Do you have health problems and or are you a vulnerable race? What State do you live?

I live in Tacoma, WA. I don’t mind waiting 7 weeks to get the vaccine. But I’d like to get the vaccine sooner as I’ve been putting off getting hernia surgery (a real pain), having my skin problems treated and getting an over due colonoscopy.

Good health!

@gondwanalon I got the appointment on January 13th for this Friday. I hopped on this agency’s site as soon as they opened it up to over 65 and got lucky. No health problems, just the age factor.

I was tense until I got the confirmation because the location is in the next county and some reports said they were only giving shots to residents in that county.

I’m in New Jersey and people are scrambling to get appointments. Some are getting them but there isn’t enough supply yet to meet demand. There was a statewide pre-registration site which I entered myself on but haven’t heard from them yet. There are seven mega-sites in the state as well as other health agencies but limited supplies of the vaccine.

@janbb In Florida they are asking people to take themselves off of other sites they are registered on if they get an appointment somewhere else. I would wait until I actually received my shot just to be on the safe side, but it makes sense they would want to clean up the waiting list so to speak.

It is appalling that management of this disease has been allowed to be so disjointed and therefore disorganized. I was literally snatched off the street because a doctor I knew recognized me on her way to the hospital across the street. The hospital had 20,000 doses of perishable vaccines that it needed desperately to administer before they expired. I was in that huge room by myself except for the staff. Between filling out forms and waiting the 15 minutes after the shot to check for reactions, the entire ordeal required perhaps 30 minutes. I bet that place is a zoo now.

@stanleybmanly There are lots of stories of that sort of thing happening. I’m just curious, how will you get your second dose?

I don’t think there was anyway to avoid some doses at the end of the day either being given to people randomly or thrown in the trash. It definitely seems it could have been organized better, but this idea that it could be completely perfect with no waste and no end of day random vaccinations is not realistic either.

I think the coordination at state or county level is necessary whether there is a national plan or not. The hospital should have to contact the county to either schedule people to come to the hospital for vaccination or give the viles to the county if they can administer to more people. There needs to be more teamwork. I would hope each state has a logistics person in charge of it all, but it’s not clear if there is someone or if the governors are trying to do it themselves.

In my state the doctor in charge of Health and Human Services said they have only wasted about 1,300 doses out of 1.1 million doses they have. That 0.1 % of the vaccines doses.

@JLeslie Part of the procedure (apparently) is to schedule your return for the second dose. On this, everyone involved is admirably adamant. I was surprised at the speed with which the hospital was able to retrieve my (alien to their network) medical history. I don’t even know if this program is actually a function of the hospital or a program utilizing its facilities. The doc who snatched me up said she knew me by my overalls over the button down collar oxford shirt (we were both wearing masks). She was a kid who had been my daughter’s classmate and fellow criminal when they were growing up. She hustled and fussed me through that hospital exactly in the manner I formerly applied to her and my kid when we were habitually running late to whatever it was we required. I got the feeling she was having the time of her life turning the tables on me mocking my former “bustle, bustle” and “saddle up!”. I knew there had to be a huge sky filling grin under that mask. Her gorgeous eyes just danced with mischief.

@stanleybmanly Great story. Made me smile and laugh. Interesting hat they could see your medical information. Was it just the pharmacy info? All of my doctors can see my pharmacy history. Or, actually full medical records? A lot of people where I live are worried about getting their second shot on time, and like I said here or another Q my mom has been told she can’t get her shot at Navy where she received her first one, but I am hoping she misunderstood and Navy meant dependents can’t get first shots anymore. Waiting to see if she gets called for her second shot or just my father. In Florida, most places give people an appointment for their second shot when they get their first one, but some places don’t schedule the second dose.

I wish you might have been there. She just bubbled with joy at bossing me around. It was shameful!! While she fast stepped me through the hospital she DEMANDED my medical card in a tone that said she intended to plaster it with demerits. She then marched me to this HUGE room as though she had me by the ear and was steering me to the principal’s office. We swept into that big room, and any who hadn’t seen the entrance could swear in court that one of us had KICKED the door open. Over to the table for forms with more “bustle bustle” and in an elevated voice totally unsuited to an empty auditorium, lectured me on my unsuitability as dietary role model for developing children. She then finished by threatening to return to administer the proper discipline should I dare give the staff any sass! Then back through the door like a cuckoo in a clock, leaving me in silence.

Age 72 here, good health. Colorado is now planning to have everyone in my category vaccinated by 2/28. On a “will be notified” list at Walgreens.