The county hired CuraPatient to develop the app, which will also be used to track side effects that may come from inoculations.
After OC opened the requirements for residents age 65 and older on Tuesday, the system overflowed with people trying to get appointments to the point that people could no longer register. Messages, calls and emails have reached Eyewitness News with complaints.
According to the health care agency OC, 10,000 people could be called on Tuesday night. Some of these are friends of Marvel Bartley.
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“They’ve been very successful. They’ve gone to Disneyland and found that maybe an hour has passed, which isn’t bad at all, so I don’t think it’s a total disaster, but I think it’s a challenge,” Bartley said. . .
Bartley was eligible for the vaccination as a member of the group aged 65 and over, but as of Friday afternoon he had only been able to register for Othena. Bartley said he would keep trying to book an appointment. He said patience and persistence were key.
“I think that’s what’s needed,” Bartley said.
Bartley and others who were able to register shared the messages they received stating that they were not eligible for appointments (even though they were over 65), that places were not available, or that they were confirming appointments, but no date, time and location.
Joseph McFaul said he moved too slowly when he had a chance and had the option to accept a time.
RELATED: OC residents 65 years of age or older can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine
“I quickly went down to‘ accept ’that appointment and as soon as I clicked on it, he said there were no appointments available,” McFaul said.
In addition to frustration, many people 65 and older may not be comfortable with or have access to technology.
According to US census estimates, 14% of the 3.2 million OC residents belong to this age group.
According to census section data estimates, within District 5 of OC, approximately 110,000 people, or 17.5% of some 620,000 people, are 65 years of age or older. District 5 supervisor Lisa Bartlett said this technology remained the most efficient route.
“When you consider vaccinating the population 65 years or older in our county, showing the demographic aging that is a huge population and we want to vaccinate that population as efficiently as possible and putting everyone in the process of vaccinating Othena to schedule appointments which is really the most efficient way to record everyone, get all the information collected in one data repository and be able to schedule appointments, ”Bartlett said.
Bartlett asked residents to keep trying because new appointments were opened daily and said there would soon be a live chat for help.
McFaul appreciated the challenge of the work he was doing, but said the mistakes should have been resolved before they were published.
“By getting a typical person to try to use it and see what obstacles they face and I think if they had just done these things they would have had a better system right away,” McFaul said.
The OCHCA director on Tuesday asked Orange County supervisors to find communities within their districts with a large number of seniors who may not have access to Disneyland’s Super POD. The agency will send mobile PODs to these areas on Sundays to vaccinate people, rotating the sites weekly.
Appointments for these Sunday mobile PODs will not go through Othena. Alternatively, interested parties may contact the district supervisor’s office.
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