Getting My Rona Vaccine. Essex County

michaelgoldberg said:

 I received an email with the date/time of my 2nd shot the same day I received my first shot (after volunteering). The time of the 2nd appointment was the same as the time of the 1st appointment, exactly 4 weeks later.  If you have the card from your first shot with your appointment number/screening number, bring that with you and you will be fine. 

 I’m pretty sure he was being sarcastic 

michaelgoldberg said:

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

I do have a card/receipt from Sears for the vaccine I received on 12/30. It says I should report to Sears on 1/27. However I haven't received any email or text telling me to show up on that date or specifying a time on 1/27.

Should I ghost them on the 27th?

 I received an email with the date/time of my 2nd shot the same day I received my first shot (after volunteering). The time of the 2nd appointment was the same as the time of the 1st appointment, exactly 4 weeks later.  If you have the card from your first shot with your appointment number/screening number, bring that with you and you will be fine. 

 Correct.

joan_crystal said:

susan1014 said:

It is also extremely easy to set up a second address if you use gmail, and then to forward it to your main address, if the alternate methods aren't working yet.

For gmail users, yes.  Other email providers may not have the option of creating multiple email addresses.  If someone has two or more email addresses, each with a different provider, they can use the second email address to register a friend or relative who does not use email.  They can then manually forward the replies from the second email address to their primary email address.

 I'm not defending the restriction at all.  But, as a former IT professional, I know that it can take time to correct errors in computer systems.  Meanwhile ANYONE can set up one or more additional email addresses with various providers, including yahoo, gmail and others, so that's not an unreasonable workaround in order to get past this hopefully very temporary barrier.

sac said:

 I'm not defending the restriction at all.  But, as a former IT professional, I know that it can take time to correct errors in computer systems.  Meanwhile ANYONE can set up one or more additional email addresses with various providers, including yahoo, gmail and others, so that's not an unreasonable workaround in order to get past this hopefully very temporary barrier.

 Over a month?

spontaneous said:

sac said:

 I'm not defending the restriction at all.  But, as a former IT professional, I know that it can take time to correct errors in computer systems.  Meanwhile ANYONE can set up one or more additional email addresses with various providers, including yahoo, gmail and others, so that's not an unreasonable workaround in order to get past this hopefully very temporary barrier.

 Over a month?

 Well, I would have to say it isn't unheard of. I used to work as a QA analyst for a company that built custom ERP systems way back when. Lord knows what is going on behind the scenes that is more important. The CommCare system we use for contact tracing has also had some problems that took forever to fix, or even explain why they can't or won't fix them. Grrr. They probably have bigger fish to fry so I'm trying to be zen about it.

For example, many of us were frustrated by the databases not returning a specific contact or case when we would search on that one ID number.  We complained and moaned about it for more than a couple months and got nothing. I finally got fed up and harangued a tech support person via email and phone and got an answer - they're using fuzzy logic to return other IDs that are close to it as well as the match. The same is being done with a person's name. Even if you search on a combination like "00000002, Newark" you'll still get multiple records returned. You can't add a third condition though. Sigh.

bikefixed said:

spontaneous said:

sac said:

 I'm not defending the restriction at all.  But, as a former IT professional, I know that it can take time to correct errors in computer systems.  Meanwhile ANYONE can set up one or more additional email addresses with various providers, including yahoo, gmail and others, so that's not an unreasonable workaround in order to get past this hopefully very temporary barrier.

 Over a month?

 Well, I would have to say it isn't unheard of. I used to work as a QA analyst for a company that built custom ERP systems way back when. Lord knows what is going on behind the scenes that is more important. The CommCare system we use for contact tracing has also had some problems that took forever to fix, or even explain why they can't or won't fix them. Grrr. They probably have bigger fish to fry so I'm trying to be zen about it.

For example, many of us were frustrated by the databases not returning a specific contact or case when we would search on that one ID number.  We complained and moaned about it for more than a couple months and got nothing. I finally got fed up and harangued a tech support person via email and phone and got an answer - they're using fuzzy logic to return other IDs that are close to it as well as the match. The same is being done with a person's name. Even if you search on a combination like "00000002, Newark" you'll still get multiple records returned. You can't add a third condition though. Sigh.

There's nothing like clever programmers making things confusing for the user.

They should only return multiple results if the attempt at finding an exact match fails.

=================================================

Meanwhile, I still haven't been able to make an appointment.

Check your PM

STANV said:

 If you receive your email confirmation can you forward it to someone you know with a printer? Perhaps someone here can help. Let us know when you receive your email.

 I am not concerned about me.  My family can easily help with this.  I am concerned about others similarly situated.  There is still a digital divide in this country and this county.  Online registration and QR codes are a quick and easy solution for programs of this magnitude.  Workarounds are needed for those who are not connected. I am sure these exist.  The added problem is that these workarounds are not being adequately communicated to those who need them most.  Sending out an email blast and providing information on websites and social media will not reach the offline segment of our population.  

I did get an email this morning from the State saying that I am now eligible to schedule a vaccine.  However, every location within 100 miles of my home is fully booked.  I am advised to keep trying.  So the State pre-registration is worth doing, at least as a back-up if you haven't been able to schedule through other means or if you are trying to find an earlier date.  Competition remains fierce regardless of the method you use. Bottom line, you have to keep trying.

joan_crystal said:

I did get an email this morning from the State saying that I am now eligible to schedule a vaccine.  However, every location within 100 miles of my home is fully booked.  I am advised to keep trying.  So the State pre-registration is worth doing, at least as a back-up if you haven't been able to schedule through other means or if you are trying to find an earlier date.  Competition remains fierce regardless of the method you use. Bottom line, you have to keep trying.

EdwardAlbert said:

 

 Hi Joan -- was that in addition to scheduling thru Essex County?  i got the email from the state too -- though it said i had already registered and they would let me know when i would be eligible. I still have my hopes up for Sears on 2/5

steel said:

Also, our neighbors (both over 65) got their first shots today and were told by volunteers there (Sears) that "many" people had not shown up for their appointments. They are able however to administer over 400 shots.

I also heard this first hand from a volunteer, that many people who were scheduled were no-shows.  But Sbenois said I was wrong.  Apparently Sbenois knows more than all of us.

yahooyahoo said:

I also heard this first hand from a volunteer, that many people who were scheduled were no-shows.  But Sbenois said I was wrong.  Apparently Sbenois knows more than all of us.

 Please show me where I said you were wrong.  Thanks.

The whole thing is so complicated and frustrating. It could be worse for sure.

The people (volunteers and staff) at Livingston tried to help me find my high risk family members appointment but were not able to provide any information beyond the fact that the person was showing as "pending." They spent time on the computer site but that's all they were able to come up with.

The call bank person, using name, cell phone and email address, was able to locate the record for the second vaccine only. Which led her to realize that we had registered correctly and she was able to give us a date for the first vaccine.

My point is--the call center has access to some good info and if the person who answers isn't able to help, there is a manager that seems to really understand the system.

EdwardAlbert said:

 Hi Joan -- was that in addition to scheduling thru Essex County?  i got the email from the state too -- though it said i had already registered and they would let me know when i would be eligible. I still have my hopes up for Sears on 2/5

 Yes,  in addition to the County.  I was able to request a date with the County and I am awaiting confirmation. I had pre-registered with the State before Essexcovid.org became available to Phase 1B.

berkeley said:

The whole thing is so complicated and frustrating. It could be worse for sure.

The people (volunteers and staff) at Livingston tried to help me find my high risk family members appointment but were not able to provide any information beyond the fact that the person was showing as "pending." They spent time on the computer site but that's all they were able to come up with.

The call bank person, using name, cell phone and email address, was able to locate the record for the second vaccine only. Which led her to realize that we had registered correctly and she was able to give us a date for the first vaccine.

My point is--the call center has access to some good info and if the person who answers isn't able to help, there is a manager that seems to really understand the system.

 would you have the call center number handy?  my husband just got his confirmation and i did not.  it was two different computers and two different cell phone numbers so no reason to think that we would be connected,  just worried that i filled out something wrong.

Essex covid call center:

973-877- 8456

spontaneous said:

sac said:

 I'm not defending the restriction at all.  But, as a former IT professional, I know that it can take time to correct errors in computer systems.  Meanwhile ANYONE can set up one or more additional email addresses with various providers, including yahoo, gmail and others, so that's not an unreasonable workaround in order to get past this hopefully very temporary barrier.

 Over a month?

 It depends on the source of the problem and how much that is connected to various other parts of the system.  Like I said, I'm not defending it and I know nothing about the particulars of this particular systems issue.  But some IT problems are stubborn to fix and we all know that the states and localities have not received anywhere near the funding needed to handle the various aspects of vaccine rollout. In fact, the Biden team learned just in the past 24 hours that there was essentially NO federal plan at all and we already knew that they were not providing much funding to the states, despite abrogating nearly all of the responsibility.  Fixing IT problems costs money, just like most everything else. 

And, re setting up another email - that's really not so hard.  No, you shouldn't have to, but you can. That's what I would go ahead and do for my parents or other senior relative(s) at this point if I still had them. 

berkeley said:

The whole thing is so complicated and frustrating. It could be worse for sure.

The people (volunteers and staff) at Livingston tried to help me find my high risk family members appointment but were not able to provide any information beyond the fact that the person was showing as "pending." They spent time on the computer site but that's all they were able to come up with.

The call bank person, using name, cell phone and email address, was able to locate the record for the second vaccine only. Which led her to realize that we had registered correctly and she was able to give us a date for the first vaccine.

My point is--the call center has access to some good info and if the person who answers isn't able to help, there is a manager that seems to really understand the system.

 This is correct.  I just spoke to someone in the call center who confirmed that there was a systems issue impacting appointments primarily for this week.  Resolution requires calling the service center as above.   Your second shot will be adjusted accordingly if needed.   

This is one of four reasons for no shows that I am aware of, the others are:

- People registering with multiple email addresses for whatever reason and not using them

- People registering for the shot and then changing their minds without cancelling their appointments

- People registering for the shot and then getting it elsewhere (such as doctors) and then not cancelling their appointments.

wendy said:

 Spouse and I have appointments for February 2. I (who am pretty computer savvy) didn't see at first the "click here for available appointments" in about 8 point font below the large rectangle register for vaccine. Once I saw that I clicked on it this past Friday at about 8 am; nothing then for Livingston. Then clicked again an hour later and there were 200 plus appointments for 2/1 and 2/2. I then filled out all the registration per the form (having done that earlier in the week but there had been no appointments). I assume we'll get a time for 2/2; otherwise we'll show up per above. Essex county rocks compared to how NYC is dealing with it. I will think twice before I fault Essex County govt. in the future.

 I'm quoting my earlier post. I stand by it and two days ago I got my time for the appointment and one day ago spouse got his time. It comes in a text, says check your email and email says to print it out. 

Sounds like from all I'm reading the glitches are being worked out.

Folks two examples now of people who have second appointments in the system but the first one does not appear.

If you applied for an appointment for this week and did not get anything back, you MUST call the service center ASAP and ask them to look you up in the system.  If they show you as pending and not scheduled, ask them specifically if they see a second shot appointment for you.   If they do, then they you are in a population with the problem noted above.   They will then need to get you a new appointment and potentially fix the date of the second one.

Please call them.

essexcovid.org

they are adding dates every day

this morning the open date was 2/23/2021 ( we are signed up) 

Just got my appt confirmation! thanks everyone for all the help!

Just got back from Sears:  astonished how easy and fast the whole event was.  Everyone helpful, upbeat, cheerful, saying "congratulations" and smiles all around.  You run through a few checkpoints and screens (5 mins), into a curtained-off section, quick shot (painless), then directed to a waiting area for 15 mins to ensure no adverse reactions.  Never checked my ID or health insurance card, just was asked to read around the number associated with my QR code.  I think they could easily double the number of people flowing through there, but I'm sure it's limited to the number of allotted vaccines.  

Yeah, a real **** show huh?

bak said:

Just got back from Sears:  astonished how easy and fast the whole event was.  Everyone helpful, upbeat, cheerful, saying "congratulations" and smiles all around.  You run through a few checkpoints and screens (5 mins), into a curtained-off section, quick shot (painless), then directed to a waiting area for 15 mins to ensure no adverse reactions.  Never checked my ID or health insurance card, just was asked to read around the number associated with my QR code.  I think they could easily double the number of people flowing through there, but I'm sure it's limited to the number of allotted vaccines.  

 Exactly our experience this morning.

One volunteer told us that they expect to be much busier tomorrow with 600 appointments scheduled.

Yesterday I had the same pleasant experience as bak and STANV. I was really impressed with how efficient they were. 

I have been going on covidesssex.org several times a day since the moment my group became eligible, and have had all the problems described here. However, I've noted that the site is evolving, seemingly in response to our difficulties. Although I registered first, my spouse's appointment was just scheduled for next week, but they had MY phone number and HIS email address. That was probably a mistake on our part, but it made me worry there was a bug in the works, so I phoned the number given above (973 877 8456) and was actually able to talk with a very helpful person! (My own appt will be in a few weeks; text/message to be sent closer to the date.) Anyway, this post is just to observe that things are improving -- the site is working better, and it's now possible to reach them by phone as well. Although I have to wait a few more weeks, I am encouraged. 

sbenois said:

Yeah, a real **** show huh?

 Well, since you asked, I still ain't got a confirmation for my second shot. S 'posed to be next week. I have the signed receipt for the first shot so I will take it and just show up.

However, I am pleased that people are reporting improvement. Do you think anything would have changed if nobody complained?

Yes.

Thanks for asking.