The Athens City-County Health Department announced last week that it will soon cease accepting registrants for its coronavirus vaccine interest list, moving forward in favor of granting eligible residents the ability to call and schedule appointments on their own.
Those who placed themselves on the list before 4 p.m. last Wednesday will still be contacted in the future for scheduling.
The change was made after the department realized that many of those on the list who were contacted for scheduling had already obtained a vaccine or arranged to receive one from another provider in the county, according to a Facebook post.
Residents age 75 and older are eligible this week call the health department (740-592-4431) to sign up for vaccine clinics that will be held at the Ohio University Heritage College of Medicine building located 191 W. Union St. in Athens.
The release instructed residents to keep an eye on the health department’s Facebook page for updates on vaccination procedures.
Next week, Ohioans age 70 and older and employees of K-12 schools become eligible for vaccines. The following week anybody age 65 or older can receive a shot.
The health department’s new system for appointments closely mirrors that of every other provider in Athens County, including Hopewell Health Centers, Kroger and Shrivers Pharmacy, which all conduct immunizations on a first come, first served basis.
Up to this point, the health department asked those age 65 and older to register on its interest list either by calling or filling out an online form where recipients would eventually receive an automated phone call containing a phone number that’s used to schedule an appointment.
The process left many confused and in the dark about when they may be selected for a shot.
Post a comment as
Report
Watch this discussion.
(1) comment
I went on line to request an appointment (which apparently was not a request for an appointment but just an act of registering my interest in obtaining one). I received an email notice that my interest had been noted. A couple of days later I was able to get the vaccine through the local V.A. CBOC in Athens. A friend told me I should call the Health Department to let them know I got the shot so they could open my slot up to another. I called, got a recorded message thanking me for my call, received a recitation of the menu, dialed zero, got a live human who I told about getting my shot at the VA and wanting to cancel my request and was transfered to voice mail where I had to leave a recorded message about it all. Not sure how well that is actually going to work, if at all.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Please write and submit your comment, and after a short delay it should post to the comment section of the chosen article, as long as it abides by the standard rules below. (On occasion, the delay will be longer but we will get to it as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.)
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.