Americans over the age of 65 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in many states, but trying to get them has become a nightmare for many. Some senior citizens have had to travel hundreds of miles to get the shots and others say even getting an appointment is a challenge.
According to the Wall Street Journal, people in Texas are signing up to several lists of grocery stores and clinics in hopes of getting a slot. In Nevada, online registration surpasses applicants from county websites to state websites and back.
“I can figure out how to teach calculations,” said Lisa Crosby, of Reno, Nevada. “But I can’t figure out how to vaccinate my parents.” Only about 40% of vaccines distributed in the United States have been administered, and while 30 states already allow people over the age of 65 to join the vaccine eligibility list along with health care workers and the first aid, the process has left them frustrated.
In Illinois, 67-year-old Bryan Harvey, in a wheelchair, had little luck finding an online appointment in his county. Eventually, his son stepped in and worked day and night trying to secure a vaccine for his father, eventually sticking a slot after repeatedly pressing the refresh button, according to the newspaper.
Brain Ortiz, 65, started the session every night at midnight trying to get the COVID-19 vaccine. So far, the retired high school counselor who lives in Oceanside, New York, has only been able to find appointments available hours away from home.
According to Kaiser Health News, people who don’t have computer skills or can’t even access computers or smartphones and those who don’t have transportation face a tough battle to be inoculated.
According to reports, as U.S. states released the COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 and older, seniors are busy figuring out how to register to get their vaccines, according to reports. Most counties require people to apply for their shots online, but many seniors find the procedures complicated and others do not have access to the Internet, especially people of color and the poor.
Alabama Dr. Anand Iyer, a pulmonologist, runs a clinic for more than 200 indigent adults and says 70 percent of them are black and many are older.
“I would estimate that between 10% and 20% are at risk of losing their vaccines because they are at home, live alone, have no transportation, or have no reliable social connections,” he said, according to KHN. “Unfortunately, these are the same factors that put them at risk of having poor COVID-19 results.”
Language issues are also an obstacle, says Yanira Cruz, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Council on Aging. “I am very concerned that older adults who are not fluent in English, who do not have a family member to help them surf online and who do not have access to private transport, will be left out during the current launch,” she said.
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