| Detroit Free Press
COVID vaccine: can you still be contagious?
Vaccinologist Dr. Greg Poland discusses what it is like after his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Team video, USA TODAY
So many people flooded Beaumont Health’s myBeaumontChart electronic system on Friday morning that the site crashed, spokesman Bob Ortlieb told Free Press.
It fell around 9:15 am among a crowd of patients who were logging on to the patient portal to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccines. He said the healthcare IT department is working to restore connectivity, but does not have an update for when the system should be up and running again.
“We are encouraged by the overwhelming response to Beaumont’s recent announcement of his plans to offer area residents aged 65 and over COVID-19 vaccines,” said the Southfield-based hospital system in a statement. “Our IT staff is aware connectivity issues with myBeaumontChart, and they’re working diligently to resolve them.
“In the meantime, we appreciate people’s patience and will post frequent updates at beaumont.org/covid-vaccine. Please note that appointments are required to receive a COVID vaccine. Beaumont does not accept scheduling visits or vaccinations. In addition, due to high demand, we currently don’t have the capacity to answer phone inquiries, which is why we ask people to use our website to get the most up-to-date information. ”
Beaumont and several other hospitals in southeastern Michigan announced late on Thursday that they would vaccinate their patients aged 65 and over, with vaccination appointments starting on Monday.
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Those who wish to schedule a vaccine through Beaumont must follow these steps:
- Create a myBeaumontChart account or log in to your existing account
- Confirm that your current email address is listed in your account.
- Then, look for a message in your personal email from [email protected]. It will arrive as soon as you are eligible to schedule your vaccination.
- When you receive the email, open the message and click the link to schedule your vaccination.
If you don’t have an active personal myBeaumontChart account, the healthcare system recommends that people create a free personal account at myBeaumontChart.com.
With such a high demand for vaccines and scarce resources, Dr. Jeffrey S Fischgrund, a spine surgeon and head of clinical services at Beaumont Health’s eight hospitals, said Beaumont is unable to manage a phone line.
“We cannot establish a hotline for people to call questions,” said Fischgrund. “The best we can do now is through electronic medical records. And as we move forward, we will have to figure out how to reach people who are not technologically advanced enough to do this job.”
He asked people to try to be patient and understand that this process will take time.
“The vaccine is not the end of the pandemic,” said Fischgrund. “We still have to wear masks, we still have social distance.
“If the vaccine is offered to you, please take the vaccines, and I want to be frank with people when they ask, I tell them that you have two options: you can get the vaccine or you can get COVID. And that is really what it is about. “
Contact Kristen Shamus: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.