Boston city councilor Matt O’Malley has been trying spread the word, tweeting and advising constituents about a useful hospital website (bmc.org/covid-19-vaccine-locations) and phone number (617-638-9620) at Boston Medical Center. O’Malley’s 70-year-old aunt and other constituents, initially frustrated by the state’s stubborn website, were able to use this information to get vaccinated recently. People must be Boston residents and currently qualified to have a chance to access an appointment through this website or number, which connects them to a BMC location in Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale or Dorchester.
“Several seniors asked me for help,” said O’Malley. “I was very impressed with the Boston Medical Center’s old school approach – they have a website, but also a phone number.”
In the state’s largest health care system, Mass General Brigham, leaders say they are beginning to email qualified groups from among its 1.8 million electronic patient “tickets” that contain a personalized link to sign up. Mass General Brigham is first targeting patients in the communities most affected by infections, but it is also reaching a wider reach.
Unlike the state’s website, where the available slots apparently evaporate in an instant, these invitations don’t disappear so quickly, said Dr. Tom Sequist, head of patient experience and director of actions at MGB.
“We are trying to ensure that if you are contacted, you will get a place,” said Sequist. But he encourages patients to act as quickly as possible, because if they wait more than 21 days, the vacancy could end. The system will also send text messages to patients with a link, because more people tend to use cell phones with Internet access than computers, Sequist said.
Mass General Brigham’s eligible patients can also register for vacancies available on the system’s patient portal, a portal that allows patients to access their records and other types of appointments. The portal began making appointments for the COVID vaccine available on March 3 at Assembly Row in Somerville, but more appointments at other MGB locations are expected in the coming days.
Mike Festa, director of AARP Massachusetts, who lobbies state officials on behalf of older residents, said he is relieved to hear that hospitals are aggressively trying to reach people because his organization has heard of many frustrated seniors.
“There is a percentage of people who just gave up,” said Festa. “This is my biggest concern.”
Festa, who is over 65 and qualified for a chance, spent hours simultaneously researching on his laptop, cell phone and iPad and also fell short.
At Beth Israel Lahey Health, the increase starts next week.
“We have the capacity to vaccinate 14,000 patients [a week] for the first dose consultations and that will be our execution rate going forward ”, said Peter Shorett, who is leading the system initiative.
BI Lahey, which has 1.6 million patients, is also focusing first on communities of color and those most affected by the virus, but it also sends emails and texts at random to its other qualified patients with links to sign up for a injection. And for those who only have landlines, the system is sending voice messages that direct patients to a help line to register.
The UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester expects to be able to double the number of vaccines it delivers every day, from about 300 to 600, with 60 percent reserved for patients on the system and the rest for the local state on the Internet. The system, with 400,000 patients, is also increasing its reach by email.
But for people who are too impatient to wait for their health care system to contact them, there is a cornucopia of new free services emerging from groups of tech gurus who will send a text or email alert when a chance is available. at the user’s preferred location. Some, like Massachusetts Covid Vaccination Help, find and book appointments for people. Others are sites, such as MACovidVaccines.com, which scour and find available vacancies and users then sign up.
The sites are not affiliated with the state’s official system, and authorities have warned consumers against using “unauthorized and unofficial sources”.
One of the newest participants is a developed service, called MA Covid Vaccine Finder by three Beverly sisters, who keep it simple. Users provide their name and email, and system emails with open appointments.
Co-founders, Lilla Gabrieli, 23, and their sisters, Polly, 24, and Abigail, 26, were frustrated when their mother failed to make an appointment on February 18, the day the state system crashed when nearly a million of people, aged 65 to 74, and those with underlying health problems, became eligible and flooded the site.
At nightfall, Lilla Gabrieli, a master’s student in data science, developed a program to quickly scour the state website and find vacancies. Her mother, using the system, made an appointment for the next day. So Gabrieli posted an offer on Facebook to help other friends and families and things started to grow from there. It has grown from 500 to more than 2,000 calls for help and is growing, said the sister.
They have built a website and say they are refining their program to better target the user’s favorite locations for a photo.
“We are ensuring that when people arrive, if we are not the most suitable, we will be responding to them,” said Gabrieli. “We are letting them know that they are not alone. We are real people behind the screen and we are trying to do our best to help people across the state. “
Kay Lazar can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKayLazar.