Now that the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved, if you’re like me, you probably called your doctor and your friends to find out how you could ensure that you and the older Americans you love get the vaccine as soon as possible. Here’s what I have learned:
There’s not a lot of information available on how to get the vaccine. When it is available at a given location, it’s a race to schedule a vaccine appointment, not fun and not fair to people who are not equipped to race. There’s also a question of whether you’re even eligible in your state.
Most states are making the vaccine available to people 65 and over. The problem is scheduling for people who are aging in place. If you’re not up and ready to go online when appointments become available, you likely will lose out.
My 98-year old father’s geriatrician told me that she did not know when the vaccine would be available to him. At the same time, she said she wanted him to have it as soon as possible. Even though he seemed safe at home, his caregiver is out and about and a vector.
My dad got lucky. A couple of days later, the doctor sent all of her patients a link to a website on which we could schedule a vaccine appointment. Her office also called to schedule an appointment for my dad. But, don’t count on your doctor’s office calling you.
President Biden has said that 100 million vaccines will be administered in his first 100 days in office. Biden plans to increase vaccine supplies, get them out to the states and provide the states with the resources needed to administer the vaccines as swiftly as possible. It’s a pretty straightforward plan that has not been in place during the Trump administration.
So, the good news is that while supplies are not what they need to be at the moment, if you’re over 65, you should be able to get vaccinated in the next three months. The bad news is that, except at the Mayo Clinic, people with serious health conditions are likely to have the same access to the vaccine as everyone else their age and it’s still a struggle to schedule an appointment. Here’s what Judith Graham of Kaiser Health News recommends you do:
- Call your doctor and hospital to see whether there is a way for you to register for the vaccine with them, once it is available.
- Check on local government health department websites for information about scheduling a vaccine in your state. Every state has a covid-19 hotline. You likely will need to be tenacious and patient. But, you might be able to get someone to schedule an appointment for you over the phone.
- Call your local pharmacy to see what it recommends. Some pharmacies are administering the vaccine on site.
- Call your state health insurance assistance program for free help signing up for the vaccine. If you can’t get help from the SHIP directly, the SHIP might be able to refer you to an agency that can help. Click here for the your SHIP’s contact information.
- If you’re a vet, call the department of Veterans Affairs to see if you can get the vaccine through the VA.
- The silver lining of not being at the front of the line is that the vaccination process should be smoother than it has been by the time you’re scheduled for a vaccine. Lots of people who have been vaccinated already express worry about being exposed to COVID waiting to get the vaccine. Some sites have not done as good a job as one would like at ensuring social distancing and streamlining the process.
- Keep in mind that vaccine supplies likely will arrive in batches every several days. So, don’t give up trying if you are not able to schedule an appointment right away or supplies run out in your area.
- And, when you do go to your appointment or go anywhere else where others are gathered, wear two masks, ideally one K95 or N95 mask. The new strains of the novel coronavirus appear to spread more easily. Cloth masks are better than nothing, but they don’t provide as good protection as the K95 and N95 masks.
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