MA Gov Baker (r - trumpville) ends municipality distribution of covid vaccine....

[getagrip_already]

In MA, some municipalities participated in a program to set up vaccination and outreach programs to help serve not only their regions, but specifically the most vulnerable people who would otherwise have difficulty coping with the tangle of state run programs and appointment systems.

The state, mis-run by baker, is ending those programs. They must have been working too well. The state would have been in danger of not being in the bottom of the distribution effectiveness rates if the municipalities had continued with their programs, so clearly that needed to stop.

Baker has the gall to get annoyed when reporters ask him why efforts are lagging. He points to the state websites. Well, guess what, those aren't working unless you have literally hours per day to spend trying to find an appointment.

The system doesn't work for anybody, and they are making it worse.

i am sick of hearing he is a good governor. He isn't. He has one job and he is failing.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. If we can't have an actual national plan for distribution,

I'm of the opinion that state level plans would make the most sense. People shouldn't be able to get the vaccine just because they are internet savvy or have the time and patience to spend hours tracking down a dose.

I'm speaking as someone who has registered with my state, New Mexico, which seems to be doing a fairly decent job of distribution, but I'm getting very tired of seeing people in my state ten or more years younger than I am, somehow getting the vaccine well ahead of me. I even got an email from the dept of health telling me not to be calling pharmacies, that they will notify me when my name comes to the top of the list.

[Hugin]

3. I agee a national plan from soup to shots would be best.

Including outreach.

States next, anything lower is mired in chaos and confusion. Which is why the Trumpsters set it up that way. But, I digress.

The only qualm I have is that vaccination priority should be at the household level based on the most vulnerable person in the household.

[Mariana]

2. It looks like Massachusetts has been doing pretty well

when compared to most other states, and to the United States as a whole.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state

[thucythucy]

4. Massachusetts has a huge medical-industrial complex

centered in Boston: Massachusetts General, Dana Farber, Beth Israel, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Tufts Medical Center etc., so a lot of people have been vaccinated through those workplaces.

Otherwise the system here sucks. I don't know ANYONE who has had an easy time with it, and very many people who have been eligible for weeks, have been trying every day, and have all but given up.

I've been on the state website lots of times now, and am still unsuccessful. Among other issues the web design is totally ridiculous. Just as an example, every time you go on you need to fill out a multiple part questionnaire on eligibility. There's no way to log in, no way to save your data, so you need to do this every single time. In addition, the questionnaire begins with specifics (are you a first responder/are you a health care worker/are you living in a nursing home/do you live in congregate housing, etc.) with age as the LAST question. The result is the vast majority of people now eligible--people over 65--clog up the site unnecessarily, causing it to crash time and again. All they have to do is reverse the order of the questions--which people have been urging now for weeks--and that alone would be an immense improvement--but for whatever reason this is beyond the ken of whoever it is has designed this failure.

Furthermore, people without cars (such as myself) have to travel miles and miles--especially in the western part of the state, which has the poorest public transportation but also the fewest distribution points. I know people who have had to drive more than an hour each way for a scheduled appointment, only to find out their "appointment" didn't get registered by the system .

Then too, people without internet access have to rely on volunteers to help them sign on--since the public libraries have been closed. It's nice of people to volunteer--but shouldn't the state provide such a service?

Remember, Massachusetts is a hub of advanced health care. Boston/Cambridge/Worcester/Springfield together have hundreds of billions, probably trillions of dollars in health care infrastructure, and access to some of the best public health experts in the world.

And this Rube Goldberg system is the best we can do?

[Mariana]

6. The system sucks everywhere.

The real problem is that there still aren't enough doses to go around to everyone who wants it and is eligible. Until that changes, some people are going to be temporarily left out. There's just no way to avoid that.

[Justice]

5. Two suggestions for MA

Try covidvaccines.com - set up by a Mom on maternity leave - Cornell grad. Shows real time availability statewide.

Try CVS at 6 am on Tuesday and even more do on Thursday. Release appts for next 3-4 days. This works in other states too.

I’ve had friends who have been successful with both.

[thucythucy]

8. Thank you for these suggestions

and best wishes to you and yours.

[Ruby Zee]

7. Oregon doing a poor job at distribution

People are trying to sign up with the state, Walgreen's, Costco, Safeway and anywhere else giving vaccines trying to get one. Seems it is only working for internet savvy people, although there are people out there volunteering to help people that don't use the internet. Seems like the luck of the draw in many cases according to local newspaper and citywide Nextdoor posts.