My wife and I are snowbirds spending the winter in Arizona. We are both over 75 and qualify for the second wave of vaccinations after critical responders.
There was very little public information in AZ about how and where to get the vaccination when we got here on 1-1-21. I began looking on line for directions and stumbled on the Arizona Department of Health Services website. There was a link to getting an appointment for the vaccination.
I spent two hours trying to see if I could get an appointment. I’m not a programmer, but pretty techno savvy. After two hours I was able to schedule an appointment for my wife and myself. I filled out the form properly. It was for an afternoon appointment in Chandler about 40 minutes from our home. A few days later I looked at the confirmation and realized it was for the second shot. In the interim I talked to several people who could either not get on the site or spent more than my two hours trying to schedule an appointment.
Now, I go back in and cancel the appointment for the second shot since we haven’t gotten the first and reschedule. The best available was today at 3:00 and 3:06 AM at the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. We took it and went last night. The process at the site went very well. We got back home after an 88 mile round trip at 4:00 AM. We got a card with numbers for scheduling the second shot. My guess, it will be equally inconvenient from a time and distance standpoint.
How manty seniors over age 75 were either unable to navigate the complex website and gave up or were uncomfortable with driving 44 miles at 3 AM? My guess, the majority. Now the state is opening it up to ages 70-75 next week.
So, the state of AZ, like all 50 states had almost one year to plan this. Their planning will result in the most vulnerable group age 75 up unable to follow the system and then they open it up to another big group just as the media says they are running low on vaccine. Trump gets the vaccine out and the governors, all 50 , screw up the process to get it in the arms in a timely basis. Most states are worse than Arizona . But, right now Arizona has the highest incidence of new test cases. Arizonians over 75 will die because the state made it impossible for them to schedule or attend a vaccination site. This is criminal and is going on in all 50 states.
