Signing up online a struggle for many

Vaccine help sought for senior citizens

Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

DENVER -- As states across the U.S. roll out the covid-19 vaccine to people 65 and older, senior citizens are scrambling to figure out how to sign up to get their shots.

Many states and counties ask people to make appointments online, but glitchy websites, overwhelmed phone lines and a patchwork of fast-changing rules are bedeviling older people who are often less tech-savvy, may live far from vaccination sites and are more likely to not have internet access at all, especially people of color and those who are poor.

Nearly 9.5 million seniors, or 16.5% of U.S. adults 65 and older, lack internet access, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Access is worse for seniors of color: more than 25% of Black people, about 21% of Hispanic people and over 28% of American Indians 65 and older have no way to get online. That's compared with 15.5% of white seniors.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Dr. Rebecca Parish has been dismayed by the bureaucratic process and continued calls for help from seniors. One of her patients, who is 83, called her in tears, unable to navigate the online appointment system at Rite Aid. A 92-year-old woman called her before dawn this week after reading about her in a newspaper, telling her, "I'll do anything to get this vaccine."

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So Parish took things into her own hands. She reached out to Contra Costa County and acquired 500 doses to vaccinate people this weekend at a middle school in Lafayette, Calif. She's working with nonprofits to identify seniors who don't live in nursing homes and risk falling through the cracks. All her appointments have been claimed, but she'll start taking them again once more doses are available.

Some health officials have been trying to find other solutions to ease the confusion and help senior citizens sign up, just as the Trump administration urged states this week to make the nation's 57.6 million seniors eligible for the covid-19 vaccine.

Some places have found simple ideas work. In Morgantown, W.Va., county health officials used a large road construction sign to list the phone number for seniors to call for an appointment. Others are considering partnering with community groups or setting up mobile clinics for harder-to-reach populations.

Some seniors may be waiting to hear from their doctor. But there are limits to using health care systems, pharmacies or primary care providers to reach underserved people who don't have the internet, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.

She said the two coronavirus vaccines available in the U.S. and their low-temperature requirements "don't lend themselves to being sent out to rural areas."

In McComb, Miss., where 77.5% of residents are Black and almost half the population lives below the poverty line, 71-year-old Mary Christian made an appointment online with her son's help. But the only available sites are at least an hour away from she lives.

"I'm 71 years old, and my kids are not going to be happy for me driving [100] to 200 miles away to get a vaccine," said Christian, who has diabetes.

Some medical systems, like UCHealth in Colorado, are trying to partner with community groups to get vaccines to underserved populations, like seniors.

Dr. Jean Kutner, chief medical officer of UCHealth University at Colorado Hospital, said she's volunteering at a clinic hosted by a church that brings in the vaccine and helps build trust between health care workers and residents.

For now, UCHealth schedules appointments online, but Kutner said a covid-19 hotline is in the works because of the volume of calls from seniors.

"Seniors are comfortable with the phone side of things, so that that's not really a technological barrier for them," said Gretchen Garofoli, an associate professor at West Virginia University's School of Pharmacy.

But even a Colorado health provider setting up vaccine clinics for underserved communities, Salud Family Health Centers, said their phone lines can't handle the volume of calls they're receiving and encouraged people to go online.

When calling for an appointment is an option, finding a number is often only possible online.

AARP has been flooded with calls from seniors who don't have the internet and need help navigating the websites of health departments, care providers and vaccine sign-up forms, Cortez said.

"It's not like you can show up somewhere and get vaccinated," Cortez said. "And if you don't have access to a computer, you're at a disadvantage."

Information for this article was contributed by Janie Har and Larry Fenn of The Associated Press.

Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health website and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health website and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent unsuccessfully on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health website and on their listed registration phone line. Christian, a retired nurse believes the signup process is geared toward the younger generation. "Most elderly people don't do computers," she said. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent unsuccessfully on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health website and on their listed registration phone line. Christian, a retired nurse believes the signup process is geared toward the younger generation. "Most elderly people don't do computers," she said. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Howard Jones, an 83-year-old veteran, talks about his struggle to secure a COVID-19 vaccination in El Paso County while seated on the deck outside his home Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in southwest Colorado Springs, Colo. Not having internet in his home, Jones ended up getting help from a friend to get an appointment for the vaccine in Colorado Springs. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent unsuccessfully on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Christian, a retired nurse believes the signup process is geared toward the younger generation. "Most elderly people don't do computers," she said. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent unsuccessfully on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Christian, a retired nurse believes the signup process is geared toward the younger generation. "Most elderly people don't do computers," she said. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mary Christian, 71, of McComb, Miss., recalls Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the hours she spent on both her cell phone and iPad trying to arrange an appointment online for a COVID-19 vaccination through the Mississippi State Department of Health web site and on their listed registration phone line. Eventually, with help from one of her sons, she was able to enter the registration site only to find vaccination locations with openings were at least an hour's drive from the county she lives in and upon trying to sign up was informed they had no more openings. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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