Vaccine 'train wreck' leaves Tampa Bay seniors scrambling for shots

[Sancho]

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/01/04/vaccine-train-wreck-leaves-tampa-bay-seniors-scrambling-for-shots/

Hillsborough County’s vaccination phone line was receiving an estimated 2,000 phone calls per minute at midday, a spokeswoman said. Websites and phone lines were down for hours.

Similar issues have been reported across the state as Gov. Ron DeSantis pressures hospitals — already tasked with administering shots to health care workers and caring for a surging number of coronavirus patients — to play a bigger role in vaccinating the general public.

Experts have called instead for more coordination from the state and local health departments. “There’s just too many people that have to be vaccinated,” Mary Jo Trepka, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor at Florida International University told the Miami Herald.

Monday’s chaos built on the confusion that’s surrounded Florida’s vaccine rollout over the last month. DeSantis’ executive order on Dec. 23 said people 65 and older would be the first among the general public to receive vaccines, after health care workers and long-term care residents. But many are still unsure how to access them and can’t seem to find answers.

Pinellas is also a train wreck. Maybe the DOH should just sign a contract with Ticketmaster???

[snowybirdie]

1. Just as bad

in Lee and Collier counties. Now they've suspended vaccination at all. So we wait......dang!

[Sancho]

3. When you call the Pinellas DOH, you get a recording that it's a non-working number

...and there's a warning on the DOH website that a fraudulent website give out appointments (for a fee???). They said that those appointments won't be honored.

What a mess...

[Chainfire]

2. Republicans couldn't plan a kid's birthday party.

Like Trump, DeSantis wants to push the responsibility for the disastrous roll-out of the vaccine on the Hospitals.