{"id":6477,"date":"2021-03-24T07:50:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T11:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=6477"},"modified":"2021-03-24T07:50:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T11:50:41","slug":"left-behind-in-the-cruel-race-for-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2021\/03\/left-behind-in-the-cruel-race-for-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"Left Behind in the \u2018Cruel\u2019 Race for Vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Americans are competing for COVID shots right now, but older people with few computer skills are having a particularly difficult time. In this article, written <\/span><\/i>for Kaiser Health News (KHN)<\/span> and NPR, journalist Will Stone explores the problem and some attempts to solve it.<\/span><\/i> Stone\u2019s story was posted on the <\/span><\/i>KHN<\/span> website on Feb. 4, 2021, and also ran on NPR. It was produced as part of a partnership that includes NPR and <\/span><\/i>KHN<\/span>. Funding from the Silver Century Foundation helps <\/span><\/i>KHN<\/span> develop articles (like this one) on longevity and related health and social issues.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

The efforts to vaccinate people 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent, scheduling systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

The struggle represents a shift from the first wave of vaccinations\u2014health care workers in health care settings\u2014which went comparatively smoothly. Now, in most places, elderly people are pitted against one another, competing on an unstable technological playing field for limited shots.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have the vaccine distribution be a race between elderly people typing and younger people typing,\u201d said Jeremy Novich, a clinical psychologist in New York City, who has begun a group to help people navigate the technology to get appointments. \u201cThat\u2019s not a race. That\u2019s just cruel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the demand is an encouraging sign of public trust in the vaccines, the challenges facing seniors also speak to the country\u2019s fragmented approach, which has left many confused and enlisting family members to hunt down appointments. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some public health departments have been inundated and are trying to hire more staff. <\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just maddening,\u201d said Bill Walsh, with AARP. <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>It should be a smooth pathway, from signing up to getting the vaccine, and that\u2019s just not what we\u2019re seeing so far.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Glitchy websites, jammed phone lines and long lines outside clinics have become commonplace as states expand who\u2019s eligible\u2014sometimes triggering a mad dash for shots that can sound more like trying to score a ticket for a music festival than obtaining a lifesaving vaccine. <\/span><\/p>\n

After being inundated, some public health departments are <\/span>trying to hire more staff<\/span><\/a> members to handle their vaccination hotlines and specifically target seniors who may not be able to navigate a complicated, online, sign-up process.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust posting a website and urging people to go there is not a recipe for success,\u201d said Walsh. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Terribly Competitive\u2019 <\/b><\/p>\n

Like many other seniors, Colleen Brooks, 85, had trouble sorting through the myriad online resources about how to find the vaccine where she lives, on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound near Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an overwhelming amount of information,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew it was here someplace, but it wasn\u2019t easy to find out how to get it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After making calls, Brooks eventually got a tip from a friend, who had spotted the vaccines being unloaded at their town pharmacy. When she dropped by her health clinic to inquire about how to sign up, it happened they were giving out shots that same day.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>That was totally serendipitous for me, but I actually personally know several seniors who just kind of gave up,\u201d said Brooks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finding out how to get a vaccine appointment was more straightforward for Gerald Kahn, 76, who lives in Madison, CT. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kahn got an email notice from the state\u2019s vaccine registration system telling him to make an appointment, but he ran into problems at the very end of the sign-up process. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I would pound my finger on the face of my iPad, it didn\u2019t do me any good,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Kahn did what many have and called a younger family member, who was able to help him finish signing up. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are a lot of people my age, maybe the preponderance, who can only go so far into the internet, and then we\u2019re not only stymied but also frustrated,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Patients in this age group want to know that they\u2019re at least being heard, or somebody is thinking about the challenges they have.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014Philip Bretsky, MD<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When Helen Francke, 92, logged on for a vaccine at the designated time, she discovered the spots available in Washington, DC, filled up almost instantaneously. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was evident that I was much too slow,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s terribly competitive and clearly favors those with advanced computer skills.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The next week, Francke tried calling and going online\u2014this time with the help of her neighbors\u2014without success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had had to depend on the DC vaccination website and telephone, I\u2019d still be anxious and unsuccessful,\u201d said Francke, who got a shot only after finding information on a neighborhood discussion group that directed her to a hospital. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Arizona, Karen Davis, 80, ended up on a roundabout quest through state and hospital websites with no clear sense of how to actually book an appointment. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>I kept trying to do it and kind of banged my head against the wall too many times,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Davis, a retired nurse, called her doctor and the pharmacy and then eventually turned to a younger relative, who managed to book a 5 a.m. appointment at a mass vaccination site. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure they did not expect older people to be able to do this,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Miguel Lerma, who lives in Phoenix, said his 69-year-old mother has been unsuccessful in finding a shot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not an English speaker and doesn\u2019t know technology well, and that\u2019s how everything is being done,\u201d said Lerma, 31. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lerma said it\u2019s especially painful to watch his mother struggle to get the vaccine\u2014because he lost his father to Covid last year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s mourning not only for my dad, but she\u2019s also suffering as an adult now because she depended on him for certain tasks,\u201d Lerma said. \u201cHe would\u2019ve handled all this.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Desperate\u2019 Seniors Look for Help  <\/b><\/p>\n

Philip Bretsky<\/span>,<\/span> a primary care doctor in Southern California, said his older patients would typically call him or visit a pharmacy for vaccines like the annual flu shot, rather than rely on novel, online, scheduling systems. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not how 85-year-olds have interacted with the health care system, so it\u2019s a complete disconnect,\u201d he said. \u201cThese folks are basically just investing a lot of time and not getting anything out of it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

California\u2019s recent decision<\/span><\/a> to change its vaccination plan and open it up to those over 65 only adds to the confusion. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bretsky said his patients are being told to call their doctor for information, but he isn\u2019t even sure when his office, which is authorized to give the vaccines, will receive any. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>Patients in this age group want to know that they\u2019re at least being heard or somebody is thinking about the challenges they have,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

People are really desperate.\u2026 It\u2019s a big mess.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014Jeremy Novich<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are some local efforts to make that happen.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In the village of Los Lunas, NM, public health workers held an in-person, <\/span>sign-up event<\/span><\/a> for seniors who needed assistance or simply a device connected to the internet. <\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>Florida senior center<\/span><\/a> recently held a vaccination registration event and a clinic specifically for people over 80 who might not have a computer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Novich, the clinical psychologist in New York, teamed up with a few other people to create an informal help service for older adults. It began as a small endeavor, advertised through a few synagogues and his Facebook page. They\u2019ve now helped more than 100 people get shots.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a huge number of requests that are just piling up,\u201d said Novich. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really desperate, and they\u2019re also confused because nobody has actually explained to them when they are expected to get vaccinated.\u2026 It\u2019s a big mess.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The ongoing shortage of vaccines has led Novich to halt the service for now. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Left Behind in the \u2018Cruel\u2019 Race for Vaccines<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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