In PATTY NIEBERG and SUMAN NAISHADHAM, The Associated Press
DENVER – Howard Jones, 83, stays on the phone for three to four hours every day trying to sign up for a coronavirus vaccine.
Jones, who lives alone in Colorado Springs, has no internet, which made it much more difficult for him to make an appointment. It took about a week. He said the confusion increased his anxiety about catching what could be a fatal illness at his age.
“It’s been hell,” said Jones. “I am 83 years old and not using a computer is just terrible.”
As states in the United States implement the COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older, older people are struggling to figure out how to apply for vaccines. Many states and counties are asking people to book appointments online, but problematic sites, crowded phone lines and a patchwork of rapidly changing rules are plaguing older people, who often have less technology knowledge, may live far from vaccination sites and are more likely to not have access to the Internet at all, especially people of color and the poor.
Nearly 9.5 million seniors, or 16.5% of adults 65 and older, do not have access to the internet, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Access is worse for elderly colored people: more than 25% of blacks, about 21% of Hispanics and more than 28% of Native Americans aged 65 and over have no way to connect. This is compared with 15.5% of white elderly people.
In the San Francisco Bay area, Dr. Rebecca Parish was dismayed by the bureaucratic process and the continual calls for help from the elderly. One of her patients, who is 83, called her in tears, unable to browse Rite Aid’s online consultation system. A 92-year-old woman called her before dawn this week after reading about her in a newspaper , saying: “I will do anything to get this vaccine”.
So Parish decided to do things with his own hands. She contacted Contra Costa County and purchased 500 doses to vaccinate people this weekend at a high school in Lafayette, California. She is working with nonprofit organizations to identify elderly people who do not live in nursing homes and are at risk of falling apart. All of her consultations have been claimed, but she will start taking them again when more doses are available.
Some health officials have been trying to find other solutions to alleviate the confusion and help seniors sign up, just as the Trump administration urged states this week to make the country’s 54 million seniors eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Some places have found simple ideas that work. In Morgantown, West Virginia, county health officials used a large road construction sign to list the phone number for the elderly to call for an appointment. Others are considering partnering with community groups or setting up mobile clinics for populations that are harder to reach.
Some elderly people may be waiting for a response from the doctor. But there are limits to the use of health systems, pharmacies or primary care providers to reach underprivileged people who have no internet, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.
She said the two coronavirus vaccines available in the United States and their low-temperature needs “are not meant to be shipped to rural areas.”
In McComb, Mississippi, where 77.5% of residents are black and nearly half the population lives below the poverty line, Mary Christian, 71, made an online appointment with her son’s help. But the only sites available are at least an hour away.
“I am 71 years old and my children will not be happy that I drive (100) 320 kilometers away to get the vaccine,” said Christian, who has diabetes.
Some medical systems, such as UCHealth in Colorado, are trying to partner with community groups to obtain vaccines for underprivileged populations, such as the elderly.
Dr. Jean Kutner, medical director at UCHealth University at Colorado Hospital, said she volunteers at a clinic hosted by a church that brings the vaccine and helps build trust between healthcare professionals and residents.
For now, UCHealth schedules online appointments, but Kutner said a COVID-19 hotline is in the works because of the volume of calls from the elderly.
“The elderly are comfortable with the side of the phone, so that’s not really a technological barrier for them,” said Gretchen Garofoli, associate professor at West Virginia University School of Pharmacy.
But even a Colorado health care provider setting up vaccine clinics for underserved communities, Salud Family Health Centers, said its telephone lines do not support the volume of calls they are receiving and encouraged people to go online.
When calling to make an appointment is an option, you can often only find one number online.
That was the problem for Jones, the 83-year-old from Colorado. A retired military man, he considered contacting Veterans Affairs, but was unable to find a phone number.
He asked a friend for help, who gave him several numbers. One took Angela Cortez, head of communications for AARP in Colorado.
AARP was inundated with calls from elderly people like Jones, who have no internet and need help navigating the websites of health departments, caregivers and vaccine registration forms, Cortez said.
“It’s not like you can show up somewhere and get vaccinated,” said Cortez. “And if you don’t have access to a computer, you’re at a disadvantage.”
Even Cortez had trouble trying to help Jones. She called the numbers listed on the Colorado health department website and several Safeway stores after Jones heard friends were vaccinated there.
Eventually, Cortez was instructed to apply online.
“I am an AARP employee, one; and two, I’m the director of communications – I’m a trained journalist – and I have a computer, three, and I can’t even get in touch with anyone, ”she said.
A friend finally managed to arrange a meeting for Jones on Saturday. But he is frustrated at having to “go through secondary channels” instead of doing it alone.
Associated Press reporter Janie Har in San Francisco and data journalist Larry Fenn in New York contributed to this report.
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