LEE COUNTY
A man was back home in his own bed Thursday night after winning the battle against the coronavirus, a six-month-long quest. His doctors told him he had a 10% chance of survival, but he beat the odds.
Ed Knutt and his family reached the moment they waited half a year for.
It was the moment hed get out of his wheelchair, walk out of Lee Memorial Hospital COVID-19-free and hug the people who saved his life and go home.
I didnt envision getting this far, so being able to walk out here was a big deal, Knutt said.
I never thought it was going to happen, said Marti Gillen, Knutts wife.
COVID-19 knocked Knutt off his feet in July, and he fought a long and hard battle ever since.
I was in two comas and cardiac arrest, Knutt explained. When I came out of the second coma, I barely had use of my limbs. I couldnt talk, and it was, it was miserable.
I actually already found in the middle of all of this what I was going to say at his eulogy, Gillen said.
But with prayers, time and care from hospital staff, things started to turn around. Knutt started to take steps toward recovery, and even when he lost hope, he says his doctors and nurses never did.
They all believed in me when I didnt think it was possible, Knutt said.
Even though hes still recovering, Ed and Marti are grateful for the moment he could return home.
Im very overwhelmed with the whole matter, thinking about where I was not even two months ago, Knutt said. I came over here using a walker and I walked out today.
Ed Knutts lungs are still badly damaged. Doctors say it will take a year and a half for him to fully recover, but he is confident he will continue to get better each day.
We and I have been through so much these past six months, Gillen said. All the unknown that whole time that what I went through these past six months. Anything else, we can get through that together.
WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) The big topic of conversations right now is when youll get the coronavirus vaccine. While the state doesnt have a clear plan, Washington County is putting the information in one place.
We regularly meet with the commissioners and the hospitals in the county, said Washington County Public Safety Director Jeff Yates.
Yates told KDKA there was no real way to keep track of who was and wasnt vaccinated, so a solution was born.
Its designed for the groups, not an individual registration, but the 1A, the 1B and the 1C, although we are focusing on 1A right now, Yates said.
On the county website, youll find a Google document form for vaccine registration. That can also be found at here.
Essential workers from Washington, Fayette and Greene counties can use it to register an organization. The goal is to vaccinate a group of people at one time like a police department or a school district.
On that form, you fill in the number of people needing vaccinated, a contact person, the contact persons information and finally pick a site where theyd like to be vaccinated, Yates said.
While the obvious choice for sites are the two hospitals in the county, Yates said a number of independent pharmacies have stepped up to be added to the list.
If there is a certain entity that has surplus vaccine, they can go to the list and see who in the 1A list still needs done and they can contact them to see if they are interested. It makes it more efficient in getting the 1A group done and not waste vaccines, Yates said.
The site is live for any group in Phase 1 to register. Now when it comes time to vaccinate the public individually, Yates said the process may need to be reevaluated.
Our vaccinators are really the ones looking at it and using it. It really functions as a gateway to get these groups into the system, Yates said.
The registration form is a partnership between the county, Mon Valley Hospital, Washington Health System, Centerville Clinics and Cornerstone Clinics.
Coronavirus vaccines are now rolling out across the country, and health-care workers and older people have been among the first to get their shots. Teachers and other school staff members are also on many priority lists, and efforts are well underway in some places to get them vaccinated quickly, too.
But thats not true everywhere. Exactly where educators as a group fall within phased vaccination plansand the speed with which those phases are happeningvaries greatly from state to state.
While the Centers for Disease Control has put out guidance on how to prioritize different groups of people for the vaccine, states can ultimately make their own decisions on rollout.
To keep readers updated on where things stand, Education Week is tracking plans for vaccinating K-12 educators across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The data below were collected from official government communications and websites, rather than from local news outlets or other sources. In some cases, that means the local landscape may look a little different than what the data show. For instance, as of Jan. 15, vaccines were not available to teachers under Indianas state plan, and yet we know that in some smaller communities there teachers were offered vaccines at the end of December because there were extra doses.
As of Jan. 15, at least 12 states have made some teachers eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Since this information is changing rapidly, please note the date at which the information was last verified for each state. We will do our best to update on a rolling basis.
For more information on vaccines and schools, see these frequently asked questions.
Data Notes/Methodology:
Contact InformationFor media or research inquiries about this data, contact library@educationweek.org.
How to Cite This PageWhere Teachers Are Eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine (2021, January 15). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from www.edweek.org/policy-politics/where-teachers-are-eligible-for-the-covid-19-vaccine/2021/01
A COVID-19 vaccine made partly by Texas scientists with research from a Texas university may soon be ready for global distribution, but it's not allowed in the U.S.
HOUSTON, Texas Inside the halls of Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Dr. Peter Hotez and his team rush tofinalize work they startedin 2011.
We adopted a coronavirus vaccine program about a decade ago because it was in dire straits. Nobody cared about coronavirus, Dr. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine Baylor College of Medicine Houston, said.
The program looked to create SARS and MERS vaccines. Dr. Hotez said his team was in a good position to focus on the vaccine for SARS-coV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.
We use a technology that's around 40 years old. The same one used to make the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, Dr. Hotez said.
The vaccine is in trial in India.
We're not part of Operation Warp Speed because we're not a pharma company ... you have to have financial support, Dr. Hotez said.
The Baylor vaccine is cheaper to make and sell.
The great thing about India is Indias got this tradition of making vaccines for the world. Serum Institute of India in Poona (now Pune) near Mumbai, is the world's largest producer of vaccines ... We think ours could come in as a low-cost global health vaccine for the world, which is going to be important because those mRNA vaccines probably are not going to filter to low- and middle-income countries anytime soon, Dr. Hotez said.
The vaccine must be used globally.
It feels really good to be able to make such a global contribution. At the same time, Im frustrated that we can't bring that back into the U.S. easily because if we can make it, we can make a billion doses. It could solve a lot of problems here in the U.S. as a low-cost vaccine, Dr. Hotez said.
Most of the vaccines will go toCOVAX, a global initiative 190 countries joined but the U.S. decided to not take part.
We'd love to be able to bring it back into the U.S., maybe as a pediatric vaccine for parents who may not be so eager to vaccinate their kids with the new-technology vaccines, Dr. Hotez said.
We're trying to knock on doors and that sort of thing. You would think, right, with all the demand, people wringing their hands, 'Are we going to have enough vaccine?' It wouldn't be so tough. But, you know, because we're not a pharmaceutical company, that kind of thing falls through the cracks in that way, Dr. Hotez said.
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In total, 228 Alaskans and one nonresident with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic reached the state in March, including 23 deaths that were reported since Jan. 1. Alaskas death rate per capita is among the lowest in the country, though the states size and vulnerable health care system complicate national comparisons.
By Friday, 72 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized around Alaska and another five patients were suspected of having the virus, according to the state health department. Hospitalizations have declined to less than half the numbers reported during a peak in November and early December.
The states daily case counts have also fallen significantly during recent weeks, but the statewide alert level is still high.
Vaccines reached Alaska in mid-December. By the most recent update Friday, 43,992 people had received their first dose of vaccine and 10,954 had received both doses required for the vaccine to be fully effective, according to the states vaccine monitoring dashboard.
State officials this week said the state has allocated the vaccine received for December and January, but there are still appointments and large clinics occurring in the coming days and weeks.
For more information, the public can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 and leave a message. A recording says calls will be returned in the order theyre received within 48 hours but users report longer delays.
Of the 296 new cases reported Friday among Alaska residents, there were 63 new cases in Anchorage, plus three in Chugiak and 20 in Eagle River; 36 in Wasilla; 30 in Fairbanks; 13 in Palmer; 11 in North Pole; 11 in Bethel; six in Cordova; four in Sterling; four in Kodiak; four in Juneau; four in Sitka; three in Unalaska; two in Valdez; two in Kenai; two in Soldotna; two in Utqiagvik; two in Hooper Bay; one in Anchor Point; one in Sutton-Alpine; and one in Ketchikan.
Among communities smaller than 1,000 people not named to protect privacy, there were 16 in the Bethel Census Area; 15 in the Nome Census Area; 13 in the Northwest Arctic Borough; 11 in the Kusilvak Census Area; four in the Kodiak Island Borough; four in the Fairbanks North Star Borough; two in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area; one in the northern Kenai Peninsula Borough; one in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; one in the Aleutians East Borough; one in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula boroughs; and one in the Dillingham Census Area.
Nine cases were reported Friday among nonresidents, including three in Anchorage, one in Cordova, one in Wasilla and four in unidentified regions of the state.
While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.
The states data doesnt specify whether people testing positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the nations infections are transmitted from asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.
The statewide test positivity rate as of Friday was 3.68% over a seven-day average. Health officials say anything above 5% can indicate inadequate testing and widespread community transmission. The state peaked at over 9% positivity in November.
Oregon will not receive an increased shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Brown said Friday. As a result, the state is delaying vaccinating seniors.
PORTLAND, Ore Oregon and other states will not receive increased shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine from the national stockpile next week because no such stockpile exists, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday.
Earlier this week, Brown announced that people over 65, teachers and child care providers would be eligible for the vaccine on Jan. 23. The announcement was based on the expectation that Oregon would receive more shipments of the vaccine.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Brown said Oregon will begin vaccinating educators and other school staff on Jan. 25, but the state will delay vaccinating seniors for two weeks. Oregonians 80 and older will be eligible for vaccines starting Feb. 8. Over the following three weeks, Oregon plans to vaccinate more seniors in waves:
In a series of tweets Friday morning, Brown said she learned there was no federal vaccine reserve Thursday night. The news was confirmed to her by General Gustave Perna, who is the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administrations effort to quickly develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.
I am demanding answers from the Trump administration, Brown said. I am shocked and appalled that they have set an expectation on which they could not deliver, with such grave consequences.
Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Director Patrick Allen wrote a letter to Human Services Secretary Alex Azar after learning about the lack of a national stockpile and demanded an explanation. If this information is accurate, we will be unable to begin vaccinating our vulnerable seniors on Jan. 23 as planned, Allen wrote.
At Friday's news conference, Allen said he has not received a response to his letter. Oregon was expecting to receive 200,000 doses from the federal reserve in order to expedite vaccinations for teachers and seniors, he said.
We intend to fulfill our commitment to educators and seniors, but well need to adjust our timeline, Allen said.
The Washington Post reports that Azar announced this week that the government would begin releasing vaccines it was holding for second doses. But there were no reserves to release from. Operation Warp Speed stopped stockpiling doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of 2020 and took second doses off the manufacturing line.
Brown called the news deception on a national scale and said the Trump administration's empty promises are "literally playing with people's lives."
Oregons seniors, teachers, all of us, were depending on the promise of Oregons share of the federal reserve of vaccines being released to us, Brown tweeted.
Also at Friday's news conference, Legacy Health chief operating officer Trent Green announced a joint plan by major area health systems, including Legacy, Oregon Health & Science University, Kaiser Permanente and Providence, to create a mass vaccination site at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, with a goal to be up and running by Jan. 20.
Green said depending on the supply Oregon receives, health leaders will start with a model to vaccinate 5,000 people per day and scale up with the goal of vaccinating up to 25,000 per day.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said governors were told repeatedly that there was a federal reserve of vaccines, and the Trump administration "must answer immediately for this deception."
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon) said without additional supplies of vaccine, more Oregonians may have to wait to be vaccinated.
"The Trump Administration promised Oregon and other states additional supplies of vaccine from Operation Warp Speed reserves," the congresswoman said in a statement. "Now we find out that there are no reserves, which means more Oregonians have to wait longer to be vaccinated. Thousands of people are dying every day from COVID and getting vaccines to the American people is a matter of life and death. New federal leadership can't come soon enough."
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) released the following statement:
General Perna and HHS Secretary Azar need to immediately answer for deceiving states AGAINthis time about the supply of vaccines in the strategic reserve, undermining Oregons vaccination efforts. This is completely unacceptable. I am demanding answers.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) also called the news "completely unacceptable."
U.S. Rep Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) said this was another "shameful and dangerous lie from the Trump administration.
The COVID-19 testing schedule for sites operated by the Louisiana Army National Guard (LANG) for the week of January 18 to January 23 is listed below. Sites are closed during state holidays and inclement weather.
All Louisianans need to take precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones from this dangerous surge of COVID-19: avoid gatherings of individuals not part of your households, work from home remotely when possible, wear a mask, practice social distancing and good hand hygiene, and stay home if sick. If you have been exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19, get tested.
Pre-registration for COVID-19 testing is encouraged by going toHealth.QuestDiagnostics.com/STLOU. Testing is for ages 3 and older. There is no cost, and no identification is needed. Test results are available by calling1-866-MYQUEST (1-866-697-8378), but note that wait times can be lengthy. Test results are also available through the Quest online portal or app.
If you are unable to make it to a LANG testing location, no-cost testing is available by appointment atselect Walgreens locationsthrough a partnership between Walgreens and the Department of Health. These locations offer testing 7 days a week to people ages 3 and older. Appointments are required; make yours atwalgreens.com/covid19testing.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include:
Test site details
Save the number 877-766-2130 in your phone
Anyone who receives a call from 877-766-2130 is urged to answer, as the call is from a contact tracer who will keep an individual's information private. Personal information is used to quickly identify anyone a COVID-positive individual may have been in close contact with to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Everyone called by a contact tracer is advised to monitor themselves for signs of illness for 14 days from when they first came in contact with the COVID-19 person.
If a resource need is identified through the contact tracing interview, the case is flagged for follow-up from a resource coordinator social worker who can connect individuals with resources including medication, masks, food assistance and even help locating alternative housing.
If someone calls from a number other than 877-766-2130, claims to be a contact tracer and asks for personal information, hang up immediately.If you have a positive lab result and have not yet heard from a contact tracer, you can call our team directly at 877-766-2130.
For information from the Louisiana Department of Health on COVID-19, click here.
In early January, Nali Gillespie watched her social media feeds fill with vaccine selfies: Photo after photo of her peers at other medical schools around the country posed proudly next to a syringe with their dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
But Ms. Gillespie who is in her third year at Duke University School of Medicine and is focused on research rather than clinical training knew she wouldnt be able to join them yet.
Because she volunteers in an outpatient clinic just once a week, she has less direct exposure to Covid patients and is waiting in line behind classmates who are working in intensive care units and emergency rooms.
You hear that at some schools, students are already getting their second dose, and then theres some of us who havent even been scheduled for our first, Ms. Gillespie said.
When she goes in for her weekly clinic shifts, she knows she is still vulnerable to exposure to the coronavirus. Youre increasingly aware that an asymptomatic patient can come into the clinic and youre seeing them in a small exam room, she said. The risk is very real.
In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced guidelines establishing priorities of who should get the vaccines first as the rollout began. Although the guidelines were broad, medical students learned that they could be included among the first wave of health care workers, especially those involved with care of Covid patients. But the rollout has varied widely across the countrys 155 medical schools, which have each set priorities based on the availability of vaccine doses in their state.
This has caused stress for some medical students continuing their clinical rotations. Although some schools bar students from treating Covid patients, that rule can be difficult to enforce, especially with asymptomatic cases.
While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, most will likely put medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities first. If you want to understand how this decision is getting made, this article will help.
Life will return to normal only when society as a wholegains enough protection against the coronavirus. Once countries authorize a vaccine, theyll only be able to vaccinate a few percent of their citizens at most in the first couple months. The unvaccinated majority will still remain vulnerable to getting infected. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines are showing robust protection against becoming sick. But its also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing theyre infected because they experience only mild symptoms or none at all. Scientists dont yet know if the vaccines also block the transmission of the coronavirus. So for the time being, even vaccinated people will need to wear masks, avoid indoor crowds, and so on. Once enough people get vaccinated, it will become very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people to infect. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve that goal, life might start approaching something like normal by the fall 2021.
Yes, but not forever. The two vaccines that will potentially get authorized this month clearly protect people from getting sick with Covid-19. But the clinical trials that delivered these results were not designed to determine whether vaccinated people could still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. That remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected by the coronavirus can spread it while theyre not experiencing any cough or other symptoms. Researcherswill be intensely studying this question as the vaccines roll out. In the meantime, even vaccinated people will need to think of themselves as possible spreaders.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is delivered as a shot in the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection wont be any different from ones youve gotten before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported any serious health problems. But some of them have felt short-lived discomfort, including aches and flu-like symptoms that typically last a day. Its possible that people may need to plan to take a day off work or school after the second shot. While these experiences arent pleasant, they are a good sign: they are the result of your own immune system encountering the vaccine and mounting a potent response that will provide long-lasting immunity.
No. The vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer use a genetic molecule to prime the immune system. That molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse to a cell, allowing the molecule to slip in. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. At any moment, each of our cells may contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules, which they produce in order to make proteins of their own. Once those proteins are made, our cells then shred the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules our cells make can only survive a matter of minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell's enzymes a bit longer, so that the cells can make extra virus proteins and prompt a stronger immune response. But the mRNA can only last for a few days at most before they are destroyed.
At some institutions, like Duke School of Medicine, students working in intensive care units and emergency departments were placed in the highest level priority group, 1A, while all others were told they would be vaccinated under group 1B. At Yale School of Medicine, all medical students, regardless of their level of patient exposure, were told they would be vaccinated in reverse alphabetical order (by the first letter of their last name, starting at the end of the alphabet).
Those who were at the later stages of the alphabet were happy but a bit confused as to how arbitrary it was, said Sumun Khetpal, a fourth-year student.
Students at Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth said that for weeks they had received no communication from the school about when they would receive their vaccines, so some drove hours across the state looking for private pharmacists who would give them shots. And at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, students said they also had to take matters into their own hands, and reach out to private pharmacies to inquire about getting vaccinated because until last weekend, they were not told how to receive vaccines from their school.
The C.D.C. guidelines did not have the level of granularity needed for hospitals and schools to make decisions, said Dr. Alison Whelan, chief academic officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Theres been a fair amount of variability because of the lack of a national plan.
Adding to the confusion, the vaccines were allocated to states according to their populations, which do not always reflect their populations of health care workers, added Dr. Janis Orlowski, chief health care officer of the association. There are 21,000 med students in the country.
For some of them, theres a sense of guilty relief as they receive the vaccine knowing some of their peers still have not.
One of my close friends is a dental student and is in peoples mouths on a regular basis, but she hasnt received the Covid vaccine, said Azan Virji, a second-year medical student at Harvard who got his first dose in late December. It feels like theres a disparity.
Still, Mr. Virji said he has treated Covid-19 patients many times and felt a weight lifted knowing he is now inoculated.
My parents in Tanzania may not have access to this vaccine until 2022, and now Im one of the first people to have access to it, he said. Its bittersweet, but essential for me to feel calmer in the hospital.
SALT LAKE CITY A new, more transmissible variant of COVID-19 that originated in the U.K. has been detected in Utah, state health officials announced Friday.
The variant, also known as B.1.1.7, was detected in a man from Salt Lake County who tested positive last month and was between the ages of 25 and 44, according to a news release from the Utah Department of Health. The man had no known travel history outside Utah and had only mild symptoms, the release said.
The U.K. variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is thought to spread more quickly and easily than other mutations, but there is no evidence it is any more deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant was first detected in the U.S. in Colorado.
"This is a hard time to have a more contagious strain, given that it's winter, people are inside more," said Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn. "The holiday season just passed, and the people are frankly fatigued with all the public health recommendations we're making. So that, in combination with not enough vaccines to go around, is concerning."
Dr. Kelly Oakeson, chief scientist for bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing at The Utah Public Health Laboratory, explained that the case was discovered through a genetic profile test of a positive case. He said there are 17 mutations distinct to the U.K. variant, which they found during the test that led to the confirmation.
Both he and Dunn said they believed that the variant has been in Utah for some time and there are likely more cases.
"I believe it's more widespread," Oakeson said. "We're not sequencing every single positive sample, so we're only sequencing about 10% in some months a little fewer than that. So if we detected this quickly since we were looking for it, it indicates to us that it's probably more widespread than just this one individual."
Salt Lake County health officials conducted a routine case investigation after the Utah case was detected, including contact tracing, for the variant case.
The Utah discovery was announced about the same time the CDC published a research paper that acknowledged the new variant was detected in 10 states between Dec. 29, 2020, and Tuesday. Researchers said that current models project that the strain will become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
While not known to be deadlier, the researchers warned that it could create more issues if it leads to a spike in COVID-19 transmission. COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use are also believed to be effective against the U.K. variant of the virus; however, the new variant poses a problem to vaccination efforts if it spreads faster than people can be vaccinated.
They advised individuals to continue to take measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
"Increased SARS-CoV-2 transmission might threaten strained health care resources, require extended and more rigorous implementation of public health strategies and increase the percentage of population immunity required for pandemic control," researchers wrote in the paper.
Dunn echoed those concerns Friday afternoon. She pointed out that herd immunity through vaccinations likely won't be reached until summer or fall, and that a positive case is believed to provide only about 90 days of immunity. In addition, the new variant could lead to an uptick in cases in a short amount of time, which would potentially lead to a continued or worsening strain of hospitals around the state much like the CDC paper warned.
"I think this puts another spin on how we're responding to this pandemic, knowing that our hospital ICUs are already over capacity and we're at the beginning of a potential surge in cases due to this new variant," she said.
The U.K. responded to the new strain with new shutdowns across the country. Utah has no firm recommendations or plans in place tied to the new variant, Dunn added.
Utah's current COVID-19 case totals and positivity rate remain high but are once again slowly declining, yet it's possible that another surge could come with K-12 and higher education classes returning this month and a more contagious variant documented in the state. As experts pointed out Friday, the variant spread faster among younger individuals in the U.K. because those groups were more likely to be where spread occurs.
Dunn is optimistic that testing protocols like surge testing on college campuses to begin the semester can pick up new cases before it leads to widespread growth in new cases. That said, she is also aware that the timing of the new strain reaching Utah isn't ideal.
"It is more transmissible, it's more contagious than the other variants of COVID, and so now more than ever we need to be practicing good public health practice by wearing a face mask, staying home when we're sick, avoiding large gatherings and physically distancing as much as we can," she said. "We really need to be extra cautious moving forward until we get more people vaccinated to not overwhelm our health care systems."
The confusion started when the phones lines opened up for the COVID-19 vaccine
by: Dave Sess
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) The coronavirus virus vaccine will be available in Ohio beginning Monday for people 80 years old and older. Many want the shot, but some had major problems lining up a time to get it.
The confusion started when the phones lines opened up for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Arless Dinger, 81, called Mercy Healths number four times and waited on hold until being disconnected each time.
I was on there 1 hour, 45 minutes trying to get that, Dinger said.
Mercy Health said it was excited to see the number of people seeking vaccinations, and they were experiencing a high number of calls and working quickly. There may be delays in reaching a scheduler.
It seems to be no one knows whats going on, what theyre doing, said Cheryl DiFabio of Boardman.
The Mahoning County Health Department was trying to establish a new phone line to take calls after the original line crashed Thursday night. The agency had a sign on the front door saying No Walk-In Registrations.
People started calling 27 First News to complain about what was happening.
This is very frustrating, especially someone in their 80s. My mom it totally with it, but shes in tears. Shes in tears. Its ridiculous, said Mary Kay, daughter of caller.
DiFabio feels the frustration, too.
I feel these people have it all wrong. Nobody knows thats going on and what theyre doing, she said.
Dinger finally got through to Southwoods but was told all of their appointments to receive the vaccine were booked.
I tried as hard as I could. I finally was ready to say a few words that nobody wanted to hear, Dinger said.
27 First News called the Trumbull County Health Department and reached a recording saying call volume was high. Calls go to voicemail and it calls back. It says people leaving multiple messages slows down the entire process.
Columbiana County is preparing for a drive-in clinic next Friday.
Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties all released information Thursday on how to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
