Now that the New Jersey vaccine portal is open, only 21 questions and less than ten minutes in front of the computer stand between you and pre-registration for a vaccine.
“COVID-19 vaccines are on their way to hospitals and clinics in New Jersey. You can reserve your spot to get the vaccine now, by pre-registering here ”, says the message before the questionnaire starts.
But if that sounds too good to be true, error messages have prevented some users from signing up all morning, as the system’s volume is high. The Department of Health is encouraging only health professionals to pre-register now and everyone else to postpone, although the form allows anyone to register.
Personal information
The form begins by asking for personal data: name, address, email and phone. Users have the option to subscribe to receive text message updates about the vaccine before answering questions about sex, race, ethnicity and date of birth.
Insurance information
The following is insurance information – users are asked if they have private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP or no insurance, as well as the provider name, group number and member ID. The form says “if you have health insurance, provide information; otherwise, you do not need insurance to receive the vaccine. “
These questions comprise 40 percent of the questionnaire. Quite easy.
From there, the questions become a little more complicated to determine the vulnerability of COVID-19 and when users may be eligible for the vaccine.
Currently, only health professionals and long-term residents – part of group 1A – can receive the vaccine. Although the exact details have not yet been solidified, the next stage 1B will include essential workers and those over 75. After that, there will be the 1C group for residents over 65 and those with high-risk medical conditions. And then the general public.
Where do you work
In the section, users are asked whether they work / volunteer in a health setting or live / work in a long-term care setting. They must also mark the type of business they work for in a list of fields that includes clergy, public transport, sanitation and 20 other options.
A screen capture shows a list of work fields that can affect when a resident receives a vaccine.Courtesy of NJ Vaccine Scheduling System
Medical history
If a user has any of the 19 medical conditions, including asthma, cancer, heart disease, obesity or diabetes, he must check a box to determine his medical risk factor.
A screen capture shows a list of medical conditions that can affect when a resident receives a vaccine.Courtesy of NJ Vaccine Scheduling System
Homeless
And if someone has been homeless in the past month or lived in a shelter, they are also asked to check a box.
This represents 60% of the questionnaire.
Medical screening
The final segment includes more medical screening questions: are you currently pregnant, are you breastfeeding, have you ever tested positive for COVID-19, received antibody therapy, are you immunocompromised, are you allergic to any other vaccine? be your first dose of COVID-19 vaccine?
A note strongly encourages users to discuss the vaccine with their healthcare provider if any of the previous questions are yes.
Review and submit!
Then, all of a person’s previous responses appear for review. After a user verifies that their answers are correct and clicks on the bright blue button below, the form is filled out and a message informs you that you are on the list. There is no email or text confirmation when the form is filled out, but a message informs users that they will receive an email when they can schedule an appointment.
Although the top of the form calculates 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire, this nimble-fingered reporter took only three minutes. A more accurate estimate would be 5 to 10 minutes, unless you received one of those annoying error messages that many users encountered on Tuesday morning.
Users have received messages that say, “We are sorry, but something went wrong. Try again and, if this persists, contact your site administrator, ”as well as“ The New Jersey Vaccine Scheduling System (NJV SS) is experiencing high traffic volume. The system is available, but some users may experience a temporary delay as the system is scaled to meet demand. Wait here and you will automatically be taken back to the scheduling system. “
As a result, it may be necessary to reload the web page several times to complete the entire questionnaire.
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Josh Axelrod can be contacted at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip on here.