Seniors frustrated with state's vaccine portal
Fran Britt on faint ly remembers getting her polio vaccination at age 10.
Alongside her mother, who got priority as a federal worker, she waited in along line that wrapped around a massive government building.
Trying to get a COVID-19 vaccine has been an entirely different experience.
Attempting to schedule a vaccine appointment through Oklahoma' s scheduling portal has been “incredibly frustrating ,” said the Yukon retiree.
Britt on ,71, has seen available appointments disappear before her eyes as she's in the middle of booking a time slot.
With several letters worn off t heir computer keyboard, Britton and her husband have also been repeatedly stymied by the captcha code used to discern human users from machines.
“All you end up doing is
being extraordinarily frustrated and swearing at the computer,” she said.
Oklahoma's vaccine demand continues to far outpace the state' s supply—meaning there aren't enough appointments for everyone who wants a shot.
State health officials have asked residents age 65 and older, who are currently eligible to be vaccinated, to be patient.
At l east 40% of the estimated 635,000 Oklahomans age 65 or older have received their first CO VID-19v accine. As of Friday ,127,761 Oklahomans had received both shots in the series.
Nearly 700,000 Oklahomans have registered through the vaccine portal, and 157,514 appointments have been scheduled on the website.
Keith Reed, Oklahoma' s Deputy Commissioner of Health, said the state is constantly tweaking the vaccine scheduling portal to simplify the process.
“If you're not continually trying to improve, then you're probably not doing your job,” he said. “That's why, when we rolled out the scheduler portal, we had a team — they were working nonstop making adjustments.”
Oklahoma has consistently ranked among the top states f or vaccine administration per capita.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health recently launched a program to send text message store mind Oklahomans to book their second-dose appointments. If successful, the state could expand the program to include more of the state.
Oklahoma also expects to receive 11,300 doses next week that will be distributed to 73 pharmacies across the state. More details will be revealed soon, but Reed said the Walmart locations and independent community pharmacies will schedule those vaccinations outside of the state's vaccine scheduling portal.
Recognizing some of t he struggles people are having with the state's vaccine portal, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department recently offered thousands of vac - cine appointments that could be scheduled through other means.
Dr. Jean H au sheer, of the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition, tells her patients that Oklahoma is not unlike other states, in that vaccine demand outpaces the number of doses supplied each week.
“I just tell them, `it's a game of patience,'” she said. “When you do get contacted, whatever that looks like, you need to drop everything and go get your vaccine.”
Sally James, of El Reno, got her first shot at a vaccination clinic set up at Redlands Community College. James, 82, said she likely wouldn't have been able to sch edule an appointment through the scheduling website if it weren't for her ex perience teaching online classes through the University of Phoenix.
After receiving her first shot, she was told to return to the portal to immediately schedule her second shot. The problem was, there were no available appointments weeks out for her to schedule.
Trying to find the correct information on the scheduling portal website or on the state's COVID-19 vaccination page is difficult, she said.
“The website, it's so disjointed and you can never talk to a human being,” she said.
AARP Oklahoma has hosted a series of telephone town halls to answer seniors' questions about COVID-19 and the vaccine rollout.
The group is also providing real-time constructive feedback to the State Department of Health as local seniors reach out with complaints about the portal or confusion about 2-1-1— the state' s phone line to help people register for vaccinations, said AARP Oklahoma State Director Sean Voskuhl.
“It's going to be a long haul for the next few months ,” he said. “There's just a lot of people who want to get vaccinated, and it's just working out these kinks in the system.”
The State Department of Health has been receptive to feedback and is constantly working to improve the process, Voskuhl said.
State health officials have urged seniors who are struggling with the portal to seek help from family or friends. Voskuhl said he worries about homebound seniors, those who may not own a computer and those who have no one to call for help.
“We all need to keep our eye on the ball about how do we help seniors who do not have computer access or who don't have a loved one or friend that can help them go through the portal,” he said.
Richard Ratcliffe, 81, said his vaccination experience was practically seamless. Among the first Oklahoma seniors to get vaccinated in early January, Ratcliffe and his wife got appointments by calling the Custer County Health Department.
Are tired business man, Ratcliffe praised the state's vaccination efforts.
For years, he ran Ratcliffe Textbooks in Norman and Ratcliffe Medical Books in Oklahoma City. When people criticized his business practices, he would respond, “OK, well, how would you handle this?”
“That'd be a good question for those people who are really complaining,” he said. “How would you get 100, 200 million people vaccinated?” We're on the best path we can find right now.”
Those struggling to register through the state's vaccine portal, vaccinate. oklahoma. gov can call 2-1-1. LIFE Senior Services is also helping to register seniors who do not have internet or email access. Call 918-664-9000, extension 1136.
Reporter Carmen Forman covers state government, politics and the COVID19 pandemic for The Oklahoman. Send story tips to cforman@oklahoman.com or connect on Twitter with @ CarmenMForman. Support the work of Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a print or digital subscription today at oklahoman.com/subscribe.