by Barbara Nevins Taylor

At about 10:45 a.m. on January 12, I learned that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo opened the COVID vaccine to people over 65 and those with underlying conditions. Wow, that’s great! I thought. But during the next couple of hours, I found out how frustrating trying to find an appointment to get the COVID vaccine will be for many, many New Yorkers. 

The new rule means that 7 million New Yorkers are eligible to get a vaccine when the state gets only 300,000 vaccine doses a week. And we all need two.  The governor made the move, but he wasn’t happy about it. He said, “The federal government didn’t give us an additional allocation. That’s 300,000 per week. How do you effectively serve 7 million people, all of whom are now eligible, without any priority?”

But I scrambled and made a mad dash to find a place where I could get the COVID vaccine.  The New York State Health Department website screens you to see if you are eligible. If you pass the first hurdle, you move on to the locator based on your zip code.

The Javits Center came up first in my list and that was great. It had openings in January and my husband Nick, who is 75 and was eligible in the second group, got an appointment there right away. But when I tried today to sign up for an appointment, the site crashed over and over and over again.

I began calling the urgent care offices and pharmacies listed on the website. Lines were busy, or voice messages said they were only giving the vaccine to healthcare workers, police officers, firefighters, some teachers and other public employees who deal with the public.

I tried the few websites listed. One urgent care outfit asked for my credit card. I clicked out because the vaccine is free and they should not have asked.

I continued down the list the Health Department provided. A pharmacy in Chinatown put me on their waiting list with 200 people in front me. A pharmacy in East New York, Brooklyn hadn’t gotten the signal from the health department that the pool of eligible people had been expanded. But they took my name and information. 

Two-and-half hours later, I got a call from the Brooklyn pharmacy. They received the guidance and had appointments for Thursday, January 14. I will breathe a huge sigh of relief when I get the vaccine on Thursday.

But, I really feel for everyone who is not as persistent as I am — I had the time, many people don’t — and should still be getting the COVID vaccine. This system is not fair.