Trouble making COVID-19 vaccine appointment online

by: Nick Aresco

Posted: Feb 3, 2021

MONSON, Mass. (WWLP) – Frustration intensifies with the online process for trying to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments, especially for the elderly.

With Phase 2 of the vaccine timeline well underway questions are mounting about how to make a vaccine appointment easier. 85-year-old Emmaladd Shepherd of Monson has been going online everyday trying to make an appointment to get her covid-19 vaccine. But she says the website won’t allow her to upload the necessary information.

“I could not get either a pdf file or jpeg to show up on there so I just gave up.”

The state has made available this website on mass.gov for those eligible to sign-up to get the vaccine. But many senior citizens are having a very difficult time making an appointment.

I happen to be pretty tech savvy and I’m frustrated.” Shepherd is not only trying to get the vaccine herself but also trying to setup an appointment for her son-in-law who has alzheimer’s.

“I need to set up so I can be with my son-in-law, I’m 85 years old and we might as well get my shot at the same time.”

Governor Charlie Baker’s administration has been talking about launching a call center to help take some frustration out of the process of registering for a COVID-19 vaccine and questions about it are already starting to pile up.

“The governor is talking about phone numbers but am I going to talk to a robot? I need to talk to a human being.”

State Senator Eric Lesser has received many calls from residents voicing their frustrations. Lesser tweeted Monday night questions he has about the potential call center, asking if there would be enough staffing to take the calls, and if there would be actual people answering the phones.

“A lot of people can’t use the internet or don’t have access to the internet so we need a 24/7 phone line toll free in multiple languages that people can call to speak to a live human being to get there questions answered.”

Senator Lesser has filed emergency legislation calling on Governor Baker to establish a scheduling system for all vaccine appointments.

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