I am trying to get a vaccine appt (update: 3/8 Got 1st Moderna Health Dept!)

[Marthe48]

Last edited Mon Mar 8, 2021, 03:06 PM - Edit history (3)

I stayed up until almost 2, because one of my friends said some of the places update just after midnight. I found a plavce an hour away, filled out the application for the time, and 2nd dose and after all the effort, got a message that time wasn't available. I've done that 4 times. I got back up after about 3 hours of sleep, to try again and the same result.

I used vaccinefinder.org
I signed up with my local hospital the end of Jan and checked to see if I was on their list. I am, but the person has no idea when I'll be called.
I signed up at the county health dept. and through GoodRx, Kroger, about 2 weeks ago.

I just signed up for another pharmacy.

I don't know what else to do. I've been eligible since Feb 8th. Last night and this morning, all I can think is why is the online application so hard? Would it hurt the providers so much to set the appointment and then see if you answer all of the questions correctly? None of the places that potentially provide shots want you to call. All of the forms have a number of questions to answer. This whole process, I wonder, why isn't my doctor helping me make arrangements? What do really old people do?

I am really discouraged. I should have just gone when the weather was bad, when some of my friends got their shots. I'm going back to bed. 3 hours isn't enough sleep.

I posted some updates below, but added an update in the header. It has been enlightening to read the replies. The states were on their own, so it is a patchwork. Maybe we will see a real top-down effort in place soon.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Sorry to say you're not alone...

I'm lucky to have the VA, even if it's a 50 mile drive. Get my second shot tomorrow.

Others out here tell me stories... "Walgreen's has them. I just made an appointment. Someone else says, "I just went to the site and they say no more." That's less than five minutes after the first one made the appt.

Aside from the nursing home screwup, Gov Cuomo seems to have been doing his best to organize things, but there is still no master plan for distribution. It seems everyone gets a few hundred doses and, like concert tickets, they are spoken for almost before they start taking orders.

I blame The Former, of course, for dropping it on the son-in-law and the states, but there seems to be far too little progress. at this point.

[nuxvomica]

2. CVS seems to be having a lot of appointments

https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?WT.ac=cvs-storelocator-covid-vaccine-searchpilot#statetool

This link will quickly list whether there are appointments in your state, then you go through some eligibility questions and then it will list which stores in your area have appointments. The openings get put up on the website at various times. There are a lot right now. I got one last Thursday after periodically checking in the afternoon. All of a sudden, just after 1pm, a bunch were listed for New York and I managed to get one in my same town for the next day. Hours later, I snagged one for a friend in a neighboring town as I knew their birthdate.

Keep this link in a browser tab and refresh periodically.

[Kahuna]

8. I nabbed CVS appts last week in NJ at about 6:30am. Today I get my first shot.

[Marthe48]

12. I tried your link

They had no appts in Ohio. I bookmarked it, so I can pass it along to others. Thank you!

[nuxvomica]

15. Don't assume you need to get up early every day

Like I said, they put up appointments at various times of the day and you may have a better chance in the afternoons because most people are checking very early and taking naps by that time.

[Marthe48]

18. I got appts right after I tried your link

so I am set. Not ideal, but it'll be nice to get out of the house and drive an hour

[Lonestarblue]

23. So glad to hear this. My online experience was horrible also.

Once I was able to nab an appointment at a mass vaccination center, all went well. The center was very efficient and was able to process hundreds of people quickly. I hope there’s a post mortem to identify all the issues and create a better plan because given all the unsafe conditions in other parts of the world, I’m sure we’ll have another major outbreak of some deadly disease or even another pandemic. We need to be better prepared.

[Marthe48]

45. My friend mentioned the smooth rollout of SOS polio vaccine

back in the early 1960s. I remember my parents getting us to an outdoor site 3 weekends in a row to eat a sugar cube with the vaccine on it. It was a mass immunization of a scary disease. I was a kid, so I didn't know what kind of hoops the medical professionals and community leaped through, but they did a wonderful job.

[nuxvomica]

24. That's great!

Print out your confirmation email if you didn't have it sent to your phone. I forgot to bring mine and they didn't have me in the system yet but they took my word for it.

[FailureToCommunicate]

26. That's good news! Yes same experience here with the state sponsored site, but CVS

allowed me to sign up for email alert of available times...and then I was confirmed. So, gee, only lost parts of several days of work mucking about with the state site earlier.

[nolabear]

52. Please edit the OP to deflect that. It's good for everyone to know!

Congratulations!

[Ms. Toad]

39. I got my Ohio CVS appointment at 9:30 AM on Tuesday

There was one within 50 miles which had about 20 appointments on each of 3 days.

I don't know if they all update at that day/time but it's worth a try.

[virgdem]

28. I've been on the Virginia Department of Health list since January 25th

and still no calls for a vaccine appointment. I was finally able to snag an appointment on Tuesday at a CVS about 50 miles away. Been trying to get an appointment with CVS for weeks. It takes perseverance and more than a little luck. Keep on trying, appointments seem to be opening up lately.

[appalachiablue]

38. Same here w/ VDH, quite disappointing. CVS has had

some openings at least. On to VaccineFinder.org which includes Safeway & Giant Pharmacies.

Best of luck.

[virgdem]

42. Thanks and the best of luck to you as well. Keep at it, eventually you will get an appointment.

[ChazII]

33. Thank you!!

I don't have my appointment yet, but I will continue to try. The last message I received from CVS was that all appointments for the state (yes, state) are booked.

At this time, all appointments in Arizona are booked. We’ll add more as they become available. Please check back later.
Status as of 2:02 PM ET. Availability can change quickly based on demand.
City/Town Status
Apache Junction, AZ Fully Booked
Bullhead City, AZ Fully Booked
Chandler, AZ Fully Booked
Laveen, AZ Fully Booked
Phoenix, AZ Fully Booked
Surprise, AZ Fully Booked
Tucson, AZ Fully Booked
Yuma, AZ Fully Booked

I will not give up.

[Blue_true]

41. Some here put CVS down. I have always had good luck with it.

I got my flu shot there late last year, in and out in 10 minutes. I fill the few scripts that I have there, never had a problem.

I asked a Pharmacist about Covid shots last time I was there on Monday, she said that Pharmacists at her pharmacy has been trained, but had not yet gotten vaccine.

[Hortensis]

3. :) Don't bother getting discouraged now.

The vaccine shortage is almost over, and it's going to get easy.

My husband and I also sat out the "desperate rush" of scrambling for the early small shipments. A no-brainer for us. Then, the last few weeks more and more of our friends have been saying they'd gotten vaccinated, so we signed up to be scheduled about 2+ weeks ago, and then, pushed by our kids, started wondering if we should be aggressively chasing reports of available vaccines as some were saying they'd done.

So glad that we skipped all that.

The adults are now in charge. Given the huge mess less than a month ago, we were surprised to be called this week to be vaccinated this week. I didn't even answer the first call because it was unidentified (maybe note that), but they called again. All we'd done was sign up on line for that call.

You're in another state, but how much worse could it be than Florida? Btw, the software here also has glitches, may be the same basic stuff. Hey, get this: we could call the schedulers back (!) to report our problem with it. We were told lots of people have problems, not to worry, the information about allergies, meds, etc. would be entered at the vaccination site.

[seaglass]

5. There are no waiting lists in MA so I would say that part is worse than FL. But I am practically

in tears because I just got my daughter who is a teacher and 7 months pregnant an appointment for next week!

[Hortensis]

27. Oh, congrats. On the baby also, what a lovely gift. :)

Maybe the state has a proper appointment site up now. I know the county sites I first looked at here started out mostly worthless, and even when they started providing some information it didn't mean we could sign up or know what we needed to. I just idly checked one day and found it was up, answering my questions and more, and doing what it was supposed to.

One thing we're seeing happen fast, a huge change from the previous chaos (and from how responsibility for obtaining healthcare is normally left to free individuals) is that in this national emergency the federal government has taken on the duty of getting everyone who'll consent vaccinated. It's mobilized.

[seaglass]

30. Thanks! Yes our governor while pushing for schools to be open was not prioritizing teachers.

After Biden's statement to get at least one shot by the end of the month, Baker grudgingly opened up for teachers starting Mar. 11.

I went through the CVS site this morning because the gov site said no availability. This is one less stress for my daughter

[Hortensis]

32. Our kids and babies are so precious. Just imagine how different

attitudes would be if Covid killed children. Terror.

You know, I thought I remembered and looked, needed to be done last summer at latest, but Tuesday Biden announced the federal government was moving teachers etc up in priority, and reportedly yesterday MA followed suit.

I'm sure MA is also going to get a lot more vaccine soon too.

[Marthe48]

13. I found out my s-i-l will be getting off furlough

and I wanted to be ready to help with the grand kids and dog, if there are any gaps to fill. My daughter didn't want me to come in her house or have the kids in the car until I have some protection. They are in school and she is working, so there is a risk of passing it to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been getting edgy and mostly feel as you do.

[Hortensis]

21. Yes, that'd be a big impetus for us also. It's looking like just

a little time will make real change and hope you have that time. Good luck.

[mobeau69]

4. Got mine Tuesday at Walgreens. Had one scheduled at Rite Aide for Wednesday that I cancelled AFTER

I got my shot at Walgreens. Also got on a list at medical center back in early February and was told it was going to be mid-May but they’d call me when they got to my name. They called me Monday after I was set up with Walgreens.

Point is, in my area they are becoming more readily available.

Keep the faith.

[genxlib]

7. I think we are going to see this happen much sooner than expected

Many of the most aggressive seekers are signed up on multiple appointment platforms so there is a lot of redundancy in the perceived backlog. When those people finally get their shots, they are not clearing off the other lists so I don't think the lines are as long as the system says they are. It is like the reservation list at the restaurant when people don't actually stick around for their table.

I think the providers are going to be looking around in a few weeks and realize they are not as booked up as they think they are.

[Marthe48]

14. I agree

I noticed last night when I was looking that Kroger had 3 appts for March 3rd. But I saw them at 11:55 pm March 3 and they probably don't roll them over.

I filled in interest forms, but the appts I just got are the only ones I have right now.

[mobeau69]

16. I probably would have just kept my Rite Aid appointment but

It was in a different town about 35 minutes away. Plus, I considered both as insurance for a cancellation by the other.

[csziggy]

43. I signed up to be on the list for my doctor's office and the health department

After the doctor's office called to make my appointment, I tried to contact the Health Department to have them take me off the list. I spent about a half hour trying to locate how to contact them for this - there was no way to do it. I hope that there is a master list and I will automatically be removed since I don't want some poor volunteer trying to contact me repeatedly.

[genxlib]

6. We all know that the previous guy completely messed up the vaccine delivery

The problem is that the part that is the most fubar is the hardest to fix.

Biden has been able to first ramp up locations to get the shots.

Recently he has been able to ramp up the manufacture of the shots.

The one lingering problem is that that there is no centralized way to schedule, track and make appointments. While it has made sense to utilize all available avenues for giving shots, it has resulted in a haphazard system of scheduling and appointment hunting that is generating frustration. And as you imply, might be leaving behind some older people who don't have the energy and technological wherewithal to fight through that system.

The bad news is that is the hardest part to fix. It is blatantly obvious that there was always going to be a need for an administrative umbrella website/app that would handle this. In an ideal world, there would be one place you could go and that would be able to schedule you anywhere within a given radius based on availability without having to individually seek them out. Of course the previous guy didn't bother. It would be difficult to implement that now and because people already have all of those appointments through existing platforms. It is a mess and it is probably going to be hard to change it now.

The good news is that it will probably only matter for another 4-6 weeks . With everything else ramping up, the available appointments will be increasing while the pool of seekers gets diminished. I suspect that by the middle of April, you will see the tables turn. Hang in there.

[3Hotdogs]

9. I can only answer why your doctor isn't helping you.... What state are you in?

Doctors are not on the list of distributors.

The doctors' offices would have the same problem arranging a vaccine that you do.

I had to intervene to help my cousin get his shots. He is 77 and the only communications technology he has is a fax machine.

The ease in getting vac is a function of your state and their competence. N.J. is now running swimmingly.

[Marthe48]

17. Not to distribute, to help schedule

a vaccine appt.
My dr. is attached to the hospital. There is extensive file sharing among the medical entities here and even out of area hospitals. I'd think that there could be alerts set up in the system, so that the file system can tell when there are appts available and notify the patient to call to set one. I am set up on email at 2 hospitals and have the chart access too. When I go for a well check and need a preventative test done, my dr. either contacts the dept. and they call me to get something set up. Or the dr. comes back with an appt for me.

Maybe if I weren't used to all of the help they provide, I wouldn't expect it for this vaccine.

[judesedit]

10. I'm in Fl. I went to myvaccine.fl.gov and pre-registered to get on the waiting list on Feb 11

The first time they called me, I got a message and called back 10 minutes later, but the appt was already gone. So I called the vaccine line a few days later and got a person who made me an appt. for March 3rd. So, I got my first Moderna shot yesterday. They said they were expecting to give about 1000 shots. It took about a month of waiting, but I figured it would. FL is a retirement haven, so lots of elderly. Don't give up.

[mobeau69]

19. In FL the wealthy QOP donors come first.

[judesedit]

40. Well, that's a given. FL is so corrupt

[Marthe48]

11. I have appts!

I had coffee and breakfast, and went back to the nightmare.

I have appts in a Kroger about an hour away from home, first is next week. Next is in April.

Thank you for sharing kind words and experience. Nice that no matter what time of day, I am not by myself on DU!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

22. Congratulations

[JGug1]

20. Getting on the List

Don't know where you are or your age. Take heart. Help is coming and very soon.
My wife managed to get scheduled several weeks ago through a pharmacy. I just missed out but a couple of weeks later, I did get scheduled and got first dose yesterday. A little soreness in left arm but no big deal. I was vaccinated in Kansas City, Kansas.

[ananda]

25. You are not alone.

I think my pharmacy and clinic are still waiting
for vaccine delivery.

It's Austin, Texas. Blue cities are low in priority.

[Marthe48]

29. Last update on vaccine application online

When I checked my email, I had 3 sets of appointments that were set for me. (tearing my hair out by now)

I swear to God, that last night, after I completed the online application, there was an alert at the bottom that said the time I picked was taken, go back and select a different time. And again this morning, filled out the application and got that message. I'm hoping to cancel 2 sets of appointments. The one I'd keep is still an hour's drive, but a little closer.

[PasadenaTrudy]

31. L.A. County is a mess too

We only have a population of 10M, lol. We will wait a few months. We can stay home so, i'd rather the early doses go to the most vulnerable.

[Marthe48]

34. Last update, I promise!

Last edited Thu Mar 4, 2021, 07:14 PM - Edit history (1)

I called the phone number Kroger provided to try to cancel the flu shot appointment I made. I got a message they are experiencing problems with the appointments scheduling. I really wanted to get the flu shot cancelled, so I called the Kroger here in town, where I made the flu shot appt., hoping they might be able to cancel the flu shot appt. I explained to the woman I spoke to and she was able to cancel the flu shot AND: I have an appointment there on Sunday March 7, for my first Moderna vaccine. I don't have to drive an hour there and back for my vaccines! ! My 2nd shot will be on Easter Sunday, April 4th, but I don't mind! I am so tickled that it worked out like this 🙂

[nuxvomica]

35. LOL. When it rains, it pours.

Read that on a salt container years ago. Congratulations!

[Marthe48]

36. One of the best mottos ever

[FoxNewsSucks]

37. Thanks for posting,

I don't have "a doctor", and the KS website is little help. I signed up, but all I ever got was "we'll let you know". Corporate sites like CVS have nothing here.

So I got on that vaccinefinder.org. It took about an hour, but I got an appointment 60 miles away confirmed for Monday morning. I think this particular pharmacy is one which got the newly available J&J, so they have more availability.

I had heard that often out in more rural areas it's easier to get an appointment. Anyway, thanks for posting that site. I know a lot of people get nowhere with the corp sites and the state sites.

[Marthe48]

44. You're welcome another DUer posted that link

It was very helpful! Glad you got an appt. I hope the process gets easier!

[Tree Lady]

46. Most older people have someone younger help them

I helped my 93 yr old mom, her senior home was doing CVS and she doesn't like them. I was upset about that but helped her anyway, I got her cancellation appt at Rite Aid. Around 10 in the morning for 2:45pm appt.

You have to click on it right away, any hesitation and appt goes away, that happened to me for a few days.

[a kennedy]

47. I know, hate filling out the damn form only to find out no appts available......

But for me after about 10 tries at different times and on different days......I got both scheduled, first one on MONDAY, next one on April 5th at Walgreens. I am just so relieved. So happy you did get appts........

[Marthe48]

49. Happy for you, too!

I got county health dept./state information and passed it along to my neighbor, who now has an appt for the J&J vaccine next week.


I'm in Ohio and I don't know if every county is using https://calendly.com/clinic-2

I got the link in an email from the health dept. and passed it along to everyone I know who might have relatives/friends who qualify

[llmart]

48. I just had to read your post because that's exactly what I'm experiencing.

However, I refuse to stay up or get up in the middle of the night just to get an appointment. I also refuse to sit at my computer all day long hitting "refresh" or answering the same questions over and over again every time you long in. I have found so many really bad sign up/register processes on websites that I'm starting to wonder who the hell designs these things and do they take into consideration that many, many seniors don't text, don't own a computer, etc.

I have tried CVS (not available in Michigan), Walgreens site always says "No vaccine available". Initially Meijer told me that if you text a five digit number to them and type in Covid on the subject line they would respond with a text when your turn came up. I emailed them and told them that I live in a senior community and had heard from many people that they've never sent a text in their lives, so why didn't Meijer allow them to place a phone call or drop into their local Meijer store? The person that responded to me said, "We thought texting was the simplest method." Huh? What, are you 20 years old and can't relate to older people? Rite Aid's website will list all the locations within a certain radius that you choose and then it may come up saying "In stock" or "Out of stock". I've clicked on the ones that say In Stock, answered the six questions only to have it come up with "No available vaccine at this location". So why in the hell did it say In Stock? A local hospital contacted me back at the end of January and I thought that looked promising, but all they wanted me to do at that time was make sure my online chart email was correct and then they would email me to invite me to make an appointment. I've never received an email from them.

This has been the most discombobulated process and don't get me started on my county's process. Our state only opened it up for those 65 and older in addition to essential workers but my county's website says 60 and over. Just what we need - one more group of people when the seniors who want a vaccine can't get one. Fortunately for me, I'm healthy and don't have a problem with isolation from most people, but I always think of others and I just think that if the people in charge are begging us to all take this seriously and all get the vaccine then they should have a more cohesive process that doesn't put the onus on the people to play games to find a vaccination, especially somewhere within a reasonable distance. My eye doctor told me yesterday that a friend of his had to drive almost 275 miles to get a vaccine. That's ridiculous.

In reading through some of the responses on this thread it would be nice if people would say what state they live in so we can see if they're having the same problems. You can't really compare one state to another.

[Marthe48]

50. I'm in Ohio

I stayed up late with no success and got up early because it was on my mind. It turned out that none of my extra wake time did any good. I ended up with several appts. because the site wasn't registering something correctly. The Kroger number to modify appts. wasn't working, so I called the local Kroger for a flu shot appt. I made as a test, and lucked out by getting an appt. in my own town in 2 days.

I thought I signed in Jan. or Feb. up for an appt. through the county health dept. I signed up (again) Wed, night and got an email the next day. I had already gotten my appt. but I passed the contact information along to all of my local friends who might be able to use it.

I found out one of my neighbor friends who is in her 70s hadn't yet got it, so just today, I sent her all of the tips I picked up the last couple of days and she has got an appt. next week for the J&J vaccine. For next week.

I replied to another answer on this site and shared the tips. Here they are for you, even though you live in Michigan.

I'm in Ohio and I don't know if every county in the state is using https://calendly.com/clinic-2
I also saw a comment that Area Agency on Aging might help. I don't know if this agency is only in Ohio or national. If you have a senior center in your town or county, you might reach out to them to see if they are helping people find a vaccine.

I am worried about seniors who don't use texts, Internet, or social media. I was surprised my neighbor hadn't gotten her vaccine already, because she uses the Internet and doesn't have trouble staying in touch a number of ways.

I heard of regional pharmacies (Ohio and WV) who might be dispensing the shots. In my part of the state, Fruth and Shriver's are offering the shots, but they had no appts. when I looked. If you have regional pharmacies or discount stores, you might look at what they have. My friend in Cleveland is having trouble as well. She has been trying Drug Mart and Marc's, as well as other pharmacies. Kroger has a pharmacy in the local hospital, but they had no appts.

I hope it'll get easier very quickly, and Hortensis posted an encouraging viewpoint above. One of my friends, who helped me a lot, mentioned the SOS polio vaccine rolled out when we were kids. For some reason, it sure seemed a lot easier back then.

Hope you get your appt. soon.

[llmart]

51. I'm originally from Ohio.

Some of my siblings who are all older than I am still live there. The only one that has been able to get a vaccine was the one who lives in HUD housing, where CVS came to the building to vaccinate anyone who wanted it and that was almost immediately after the vaccines were available. Here in Michigan my best friend who is my age lives in a designated senior high rise (not sure if it's HUD or not) and she had the same thing. CVS came to the building and anyone who wanted the vaccine got one.

As I said, I'm not in a big hurry to get mine and realize that eventually I'll get one (I'm in excellent health, have never had any conditions/diseases to worry about, not overweight at all, take no meds, exercise every day,just very healthy for 72), but it makes me angry because I know several of my neighbors and I can just empathize with them. Many of them have had heart attacks, cancer(s), spend most of each week going to various and sundry doctors' appointments, don't use computers, and if they have smartphones it's only to make phone calls. Some of them have grown children who do not live in this state. I just with there had been more thought put into the distribution process.

Another thing I thought of was that these pharmacies don't tell you what phone number to look for if they do call you because one neighbor told me (and I experience the same thing) that they get so many phone calls from "unavailable" that they've learned not to pick up since it's one scam after another.

It's just all a mess in my opinion. Then there are others who have gotten three different contacts that they have appointments available, all within a week of one another and she's had to cancel two of the three. I don't understand why some people can get three different responses while I and others get none and we've all basically done the same thing.

[Marthe48]

53. I had a confirmed appt with Kroger for 3/7, but they didn't have it

I had gotten an email confirmation of date and time, drove into town. I called the pharmacy when I got there, to see what I should do. No appt. for me. No vaccines left. The pharmacist made an appt for me for Th. 3/11.

When I got home, I replied to an email from the health dept. that I got Th. after I had the appt. from Kroger. I supposedly have an appt. now for tomorrow at a local location. I will call the health dept. tomorrow (or try to) and be sure the appointment took hold. If I actually got a shot tomorrow, I'll cancel the Kroger appt.

I canceled all but one of the out-of-town appts I made because the Kroger appoint application was not working right. The Kroger vaccine line is having problems and aside from not recording appts, you can't get through to cancel appts. either. I ended up calling the actual pharmacy. I left one appt. to cancel until tomorrow. I'm just want a break from phone calls, being on hold, not getting anything done.