Elderly Oregonians across the state ran into major obstacles the first day residents 80 years and older could schedule COVID-19 vaccinations, with metro-area appointments disappearing in hours.
In the Portland area, seniors -- or perhaps just as often, their adult children or younger friends helping them -- began flooding the state’s vaccination scheduling website hours before it officially began filling appointments at 9 a.m. Monday.
As many as 5,500 managed to secure coveted vaccination slots over the next week, but many also gave up defeated. After an intense 2 ½ hours, all online appointments in Portland had been snapped up for the next eight days. Appointments online were still available by calling 211, the regional resource service, into the afternoon, but many callers reported hours-long waits or being abruptly disconnected.
Local health providers who run the Portland area’s two vaccination clinics couldn’t say on what date new appointments would open up for booking. It appears, however, that the next available appointments won’t likely be until Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Greg Smith, a Milwaukie man who tried unsuccessfully Monday to schedule his 95-year-old mother for a vaccination, said he expects the competition will grow even more fierce by then. That’s because people 75 and older become eligible Feb. 15, ballooning the pool of Oregonians scrambling for scarce shots. Eligibility will expand to younger age groups in the following weeks -- 70 and older Feb. 22, and 65 and older March 1.
“The likelihood of her getting a vaccine in the next month seems more and more remote,” Smith said.
Oregon Health Authority officials said this week they’ve devoted 20,000 of the 52,500 first doses arriving in the state from the federal government to seniors 80 and older. There are 168,000 seniors in that age group statewide and about 35,000 of them already have been vaccinated, most because they live in nursing homes, long-term care facilities or receive in-home care. That leaves about 133,000 Oregonians this week vying for the 20,000 doses.
Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen warned Oregonians last Friday there would be “hiccups” and “chaos” in the vaccination scheduling process, and advocates criticized the state for not developing an adequate plan to reach seniors. Brown and Allen asked older residents to be patient during the weeks or even months before they’re inoculated because vaccine shipments from the federal government far outstrips demand.
Due to a disjointed and sometimes feeble public education campaign, many people who tried to book appointments Monday ran into a series of surprises. Some were unaware the scheduling process was set to open at 9 a.m. or that in the Portland area appointments could be made online through covidvaccine.oregon.gov and then through a “Let’s get started” chat tool.
Others who figured out exactly where they needed to go said they also encountered roadblocks, such as web pages that wouldn’t advance to the next step to allow them to schedule an appointment.
“I would describe it as a wasted, very frustrating day,” said Darlene Carlson, an 80-year-old Portland resident who waited on hold for 2 ½ hours after calling 211. The line ultimately hung up on her, she said.
“I just don’t think it should be this difficult,” Carlson said.
Carlson also said she tried to book an appointment online but kept running up against a page that asked her to enter a Legacy Health username and password that she didn’t have. Her adult daughter encountered the same roadblock, and Carlson said she couldn’t get anyone on the phone from her health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, who could help.
Another big surprise came for those who actually were able to schedule appointments. Although Oregon’s governor said the state’s eldest residents would become eligible for vaccinations beginning Monday, no same-day appointments were available at the Portland area’s two vaccination clinics at the Oregon Convention Center and Portland International Airport.
With the exception of a solitary appointment Tuesday, which appeared to be a fluke that local health providers couldn’t explain, the earliest appointments were available starting Wednesday.
It’s unclear how many seniors -- if any -- across Oregon received shots Monday. The Oregonian/OregonLive asked the Oregon Health Authority for that information but an agency spokesman said he couldn’t yet say.
In some rural parts of the state, seniors ran into dead ends with no immediate prospects of securing shots in the arm. Some counties told seniors they were being waitlisted or told them to fill out an interest form and officials would be in touch.
Meanwhile, Southern Oregon health care provider Asante, which has been vaccinating residents of Jackson and Josephine counties, said it could provide no first doses this week for seniors or anyone else after the Oregon Health Authority cut off its weekly supply.
“Our goal is to vaccinate anyone who wishes to get the shot, but our hands are tied by lack of vaccine,” Asante spokesperson Lauren Van Sickle in an email.
“The state has not told us why first-dose allocations were not sent to us,” she added. “However, we are very aware that the Portland area received more doses.”
The state – or more specifically, Brown – has been the subject of criticism for weeks now over the vaccine rollout. Brown and the health authority are scrambling to earmark vaccines for seniors in part because of the governor’s decision to make an estimated 152,000 daycare, preschool and K-12 employees eligible for a first dose Jan. 25. That’s despite a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January to immediately start vaccinations of Americans ages 65 and older. Oregon is among the very last in the nation to open up vaccinations to all seniors.
Allen, the health authority director, said last week that it could be early May before the state has enough vaccine to fully inoculate with two doses 75% of the seniors ages 65 and older who wish to be. He said the state might open eligibility to people with underlying conditions and some essential workers in early April -- and to the general population by July.
The process for booking vaccination appointments varies from county to county. The state set up covidvaccine.oregon.gov, which includes a link with more links to county websites, some which include information on how to schedule appointments. Residents who are unsure if they’re eligible also can find out if they qualify by visiting the state’s website getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
Residents also can email ORCOVID@211info.org with questions or call 211 to schedule an appointment in some areas of the state.
Despite the troubles that many ran into Monday, thousands of others were able to snag appointments.
Peggy Sigler, who lives outside Canby, said she booked a time slot for a 92-year-old relative who has mobility issues. It was a relief, she said, to secure a slot at the airport’s drive-through site. But she still worries it will be an hours-long ordeal exposing her and her loved one to prolonged close contact inside a car before either one of them is vaccinated.
She thinks it’d be smart for public health officials to provide clinics throughout the region so elderly residents don’t need to travel so far.
But it’s not lost on her that her family is one of the lucky ones. Sigler said she knows many other seniors might not have been able to figure out how to book an appointment -- and they might not have anyone in their lives who can help them.
“She doesn’t use a computer,” Sigler said of her relative. " ... A flip phone is the extent of her technology.”
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-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
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