County officials address vaccine frustrations here

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday discussed upgrading the phone system to address the frustration of residents who can’t get through to make appointments for a COVID-19 vaccine.

However, supervisors noted that while the phone system is inadequate, the main problem is that Yuma County is not receiving enough vaccines to meet the demand. Officials noted that the county has an unusually large population of winter visitors and law enforcement, who are included in the 1B priority group.

The Yuma County Public Health Services District received 6,900 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday and allocated 4,500 to health partners including Yuma Regional Medical Center, Sunset Health Clinic and Regional Center for Border Health, to provide first and second doses to 1A and prioritized 1B individuals.

The rest were set aside for vaccination clinics this week, but when the health district opened the appointments Tuesday, callers overwhelmed the phone system. The Thursday and Friday clinics had a capacity of 1,300 appointments for individuals in the 1A and 1B groups.

The vaccine has been available since late December to people in the prioritized 1A group, which includes those who work in emergency medical services, outpatient clinics, home health care, pharmacies, public health and education (e.g., school nurses and healthcare personnel),

The 1B group includes teachers, childcare workers, law enforcement and adults 65 and older.

In about an hour and a half, the appointments filled up, leaving many people upset with not being able to get an appointment and even more people frustrated from not being able to get through after multiple calls.

While people can make appointments via an online portal, the district set up a

supervisors: upgrade phone system, pre-register people for appointments

phone line to help older people who might not have access to the internet or need help navigating the registration process.

County Administrator Susan Thorpe explained that the phone system is not set up to handle so many phone calls at one time, especially when hundreds of people are calling in simultaneously. For this latest vaccine deployment, the county made adjustments to the phone system, but it still proved inadequate.

Thorpe noted that the county is committed to having a functional phone system and now looking for a solution with an outside resource.

Supervisor Jonathan Lines said he’s grateful so many people want to get the vaccine, but he noted that some residents told him that they dialed 200 to 300 times and were not able to get through to the health district.

Chairman Tony Reyes pointed out that fixing the phone system won’t address the main problem, which is not enough supply to meet the demand. However, he noted that a lot of the frustration stems from people not connecting at all with the district. He suggested a queuing system that puts people on hold and tells them where they are in line.

Vice Chairman Martin Porchas recommended that people be allowed to preregister for an appointment, with the district calling back when there are vaccines and appointments available. Then the district won’t be so slammed with phone calls. However, he cautioned, people will complain no matter what.

Supervisor Darren Simmons acknowledged that the county has “fallen flat on our faces” when it comes to communicating with the public. He said that getting the phone system fixed needs to be the priority. He also liked the idea of getting people registered so they call in only one time and they don’t have to call again. He also liked the idea of a queue system that puts people on hold and tells them where they are in line.

Reyes noted that people question why someone can drive nearly 200 miles to the State Farm Stadium 24/7 vaccination site in Glendale and get a vaccine in 30 minutes, but they can’t even get an appointment for one here in Yuma County. It’s not that the county is saving the vaccine, he said. The issue, he reiterated, is the more people want the vaccine than what the state and federal governments are supplying.

Reyes reminded those who get a vaccine outside of their hometowns must make sure that they stay long enough to get the second dose or commit to going back for it. At the State Farm Stadium, the shots being administered are the Pfizer vaccine, while in Yuma, only the Moderna has been available so far.

Lines asked whether people from Mexico and winter visitors are getting vaccinated. Reyes replied that yes, winter visitors are “lining up” for vaccines, but it’s a federal program and the vaccine is for all Americans no matter if they come from North Dakota or Wyoming. Someone from California can drive to Yuma and they’ll get the vaccine, he said.

The caveat is that they must have a local address, which means that someone from Mexico will need to provide proof of their physical address and it can’t be a post office box.

Reyes pointed out that Yuma County has about 80,000 winter visitors, most of them older than 65, a lot over 75, but the state is only taking into account the year-round population, without considering the thousands of farmworkers who cross the border every day to work in the Yuma fields.

In addition, he said, Yuma County has the largest law enforcement contingency in one place outside of Washington, D.C.

Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi asked whether U.S. Custom and Border Patrol personnel are receiving a vaccine under the Department of Homeland Security or the county’s allotment. Gomez said that these federal agents were originally not accounted for in the county’s allotment, but her office has been working with the state and federal government to get an allocation of vaccines for them, which would free up more vaccines.

Simmons asked who decides when to go into the next phase, for example, from 1A to 1B. Gomez said that the health district makes that determination. She explained that when appointments for the 1A priority group started to slow down, the district decided to move into the 1B instead of sitting on the vaccine for one or two more weeks. She noted that some people in the 1A group have been hesitant about getting the vaccine, while she knew that the 1B population was ready and willing.

In addition, she said, the 1B population is significantly bigger, so it made sense to start getting out as many vaccines as possible.

“At this point, it’s about getting vaccines into people’s arms,” Gomez said. “People want the vaccine, now the challenge is the limited amount the county is getting. It’s a good problem. The challenge is procuring the dosage to meet the demand.”