Originally published at: Seniors become hot vaccine commodity in Massachusetts | Boing Boing
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Much of this is necessary, as the process of finding and scheduling a vaccination appointment in MA is not for non-web-savvy people, and there aren’t very many tech-skilled people over 75. It took some significant skill and diligence (and a bit of knowledge about how/when/where the appointment vacancies get published) on my part to get an appointment for my 86 year old mother to get vaccinated last week.
The main downside (for me) was that I got her vaccinated 2 days before this announcement, so I couldn’t piggyback. But while I’d like to get vaccinated as soon as possible, I am comfortable with my place near the back of the line.
There are so many people who need vaccinations urgently. I can wait a few months for my turn.
Edit: A “friend of a friend” created a simple (low-graphic) front end for finding available vaccination sites in Massachusetts. So nobody should have to go through what I went through 2 weeks ago on behalf of an elderly friend or relative.
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Just here to give props for the Masshole story tag!
/former Vermonter
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Same. Just grateful my folks got their first dose.
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This is a big thing and it’s clearly limiting uptake, but especially amongst poorer seniors and minorities, which will only exacerbate the already much greater suffering in those communities.
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but especially amongst poorer seniors and minorities
Yes, this.
My mom got vaccinated at to a local Walgreens in our mixed-race neighborhood. We both noticed that the people in line with vaccine appointments (who had to go through a series of websites) were all white. The people who were in a separate line to fill non-vaccine prescriptions were all black.
While this is clearly just a single anecdote of a single personal experience, it certainly felt like yet another in the endless list of examples of separate and unequal resource distribution based on race.
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My mom picked a great time to move back to Florida.
/s
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My hospital did a “mass vaccination” event last weekend, and we had people calling patients to set them up with an appointment. I wasn’t a caller, so I don’t know exactly how the names to call were chosen, but it was not people who were already scheduled for our normal daily vaccine clinic. We were also helping people set up rides through local mobility services (wheelchair vans, etc) and I think the city rerouted a couple busses to help people get to our location. There’s a lot of energy and creativity going into this, and I like to see clever ideas.
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I think it’s a great idea, but of course there’s fellow massholes trying to game the system. Because of this system my 63 year old dad was able to get one as the primary “caregiver” of my 91 year old grandmother.
Sure caregiver is a bit loose of a description, she’s still rather independent at 91. But my parents call to check in on her daily, visiting at least a couple times a week to make sure she’s ok. I think his vaccine in this case is deserved. I just wish my mom could’ve done the same, but she’ll likely be able to get hers within a couple months.
I guess the people placing ads on Craigslist are not thinking about those not very computer savvy elders in their community who might need their help securing an appointment online. Those people won’t being seeing their ads either.
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