Health agency begins texting about 2nd doses

Some residents of southern Oklahoma may already have received text messages encouraging them to schedule their second vaccine dose.

The pilot program launched by the Oklahoma State Department of Health is limited for now, but could be rolled out to other parts of the state if successful, said Deputy Commissioner Keith Reed.

OS DH announced Friday that about 2,400 people who already received their first dose could get a text message saying ," Please book your second dose of COVID- 19 Vaccine by registering and booking an appointment on the www.vaccinate.oklahoma.gov website.”

It will come from a non-Oklahoma area code — a 1-833 number. A second message will include a website link to frequently asked questions about the state's Vaccine Schedule Portal.

The messages will be sent to people registered through the portal who live in nine counties in southern Oklahoma: Carter County, Garvin County, Jefferson County, Johnston County, Love County, Marshall County, Murray County, Pontotoc County and Stephens County. Those counties were chosen for the pilot program because a significant number of people in the area received their first dose and were available to test the system, the Health Department said.

“Our most commonly reported issue with the vaccine portal is that some people aren' t receiving their confirmation email or i t's going to spam ,” Reed said. “As with everything in the vaccine plan, we're always looking to improve accessibility and provide more points of contact. This text alert system should help notify folks about next steps for scheduling their COVID-19 vaccine appointments.”

Vaccination count

The state Health Department announced Friday that one of every 10 Oklahomans eligible to receive the vaccine now has at least the first dose. That includes Oklahomans in the first and second phases of distribution.

According to the latest data published by t he state ,315,034 people have received "prime" dose and are waiting for their second shot.

Nearly 60,000 people have received both doses. The federal government told state health officials to expect another 103,350 vaccine doses to be delivered next week, a 16% increase.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a slightly lower number of vaccinations: About 308,000 received one or more doses. The state and federal numbers can be different, depending on reporting times or technical issues.

Oklahoma's vaccine plan includes estimates for how many people are in each of the four vaccination phases. Officials are currently working through Phase 2, which includes first responders, health care workers, adults over 65 and adults with health conditions that cause additional risk of complications:

• Phase 1: 157,900

• Phase 2: 817,300

• Phase 3: 2,433,000

• Phase 4: 555,200

Third-party notification

Norman software developer Josh Wright created his own website to notify Oklahomans when and where vaccines are available.

People who signup at vaccine- alerts. com will receive a text when vaccine appointments available to be scheduled. You'll have to book your own appointment, however.

A few weeks ago, Wright and his wife had trouble getting her father an appointment. They had to refresh the state's website over and over, waiting for new appointment slots to open.

So he wrote a program that checked the state's website for him.

At first, his app texted himself, plus some friends and family who were also trying to schedule their vaccination. Wright had posted about it on Facebook.

"We got so many responses that I had to delete the status a couple hours later because we couldn't send that many text messages in an efficient amount of time with our phones," he said.

Wright then allowed people to add their own phone numbers to a list that automatically sends everyone a message when appointments are available to be scheduled.

"Even at t hat point, my expectation was that maybe a few dozen people would find it find it useful. Before we knew it, we had hundreds of people and now we have ... tens of thousands of people that have signed up for it," said Wright.

The a pp is not associated with any government entity, although Wright said he recently spoke with state health officials.

Texting costs money, t hough. On Thursday alone, Wright spent $500 sending out messages. Since launching the site, he's received private donations from a local company, Kimray, and from an online GoFundMe campaign to keep the service going.

Wright shut down the fundraiser to make sure he doesn't collect more than he needs. He can keep the service alive for a few more weeks before running out of cash.

"I've heard criticism of the state and I get that, but I also recognize the incredible logistical challenge that they' re facing,' Wright said. "And to me it's just like, let's all just kind of put our arms around each other and figure out how we can continue to improve and make this work better and better for people."