Vaccine Rollout - State starts out with an 'F' but much improved, Big Island gets B+

[RoGo]

My mom is in the over 75 age group to get the vaccine.  I had to setup an account for her and as it turns out, your insurance info was not a required field.  The process was easy for me; but would have been difficult for my mom to navigate.  The first available appointment at Hilo Medical Center was for February 2.

[Gus]

I thought it was more confusing than it needed to be. I got hung up on the allergy list. Instead of putting none of the above on the bottom of the list, the word none was included alphabetically in the list of a couple of dozen choices.  If you don’t have allergies, you don’t go line by line and think about each one.  You knew there was an error because you couldn’t go to the next page, and the word “value” appears in red. I can see the kapuna help line being busy. I got a spot on Thursday.

[Obie]

I was able to register in the 65-75 group today.

HMC signup website :

https://tinyurl.com/y6tk3t85

[kalianna]

Wow! Thanks for posting this, Obie. I had heard 1/25 but didn't know that we could pre-register.

[dan_c]

I was able to get my mom signed up through the HMC link (she is 76).  Once we got the CDC email, I was able to sign her up on that and then go on to get an appointment for February 3rd.  I'm happy about this, will be happier when she gets her booster shot.

Granted, I'm not sure how the recent news about the Trump "administration" releasing all of the available stock to the states when it didn't actually exist will affect these appointments.

[terracore]

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/cal...r-BB1cQUaW

"California pauses use of Moderna vaccine batch over allergic reactions"

[Obie]

Got my confirmation that I am on a wait list but they are running out of the vaccine. This is part of the email I got :

65+ can complete the 1st step of the registration process on HiloMedicalCenter.org. Pre-registering on our site will hold your place in line to receive an email from the CDC to register for your shot.
In order to ensure vaccines are available for you, we only open appointment slots as vaccines become available. Currently all vaccine supplies are being utilized by our 75+ population. Until we receive additional vaccines, we will not be vaccinating 65+ and other essential 1b groups until further notice.

[ChunksterK]

Frau Chunkster and I helped two individuals between the ages of 65 and 75 register on the HMC website.  Two working days later the email accounts we used for them got this message:

Thank you for pre-registering yourself in the 65+ COVID vaccine group.  We wanted to let you know that we do have your pre-registration on file, but there have been some updates due to recent vaccine availability and the 75+ kupuna group demand.  Please see the updates below:

Hilo Medical Center is focused on specializing in vaccinating our kupuna.
We are currently vaccinating our kupuna 75 years and older.
65+ can complete the 1st step of the registration process on HiloMedicalCenter.org. 
Pre-registering on our site will hold your place in line to receive an email from the CDC  to register for your shot. 
In order to ensure vaccines are available for you, we only open appointment slots as vaccines become available. 
Currently all vaccine supplies are being utilized by our 75+ population. Until we receive additional vaccines, we will not be vaccinating 65+ and other essential 1b groups until further notice.
Vaccination appointments for 65+ and essential 1b workers will be made available as vaccines are received.
Please refrain from calling the helpline if you are not 75 and older to allow access for our very senior and most vulnerable population. 
Our commitment is to give out the vaccines we receive – currently a 1,000  plus doses per week.
Please continue to visit us at www.HiloMedicalCenter.org for the latest information about our vaccination clinic.
We will update you when we have more vaccine availability and appointments available.

Mahalo for your patience and understanding.

Hilo Medical Center
COVID Vaccine Team

I give them high marks for honesty and for not scheduling appointments until they have a reasonable expectation of being able to administer the shots.  On Maui, they had to cancel appointments already set.  Imagine how disappointed those folks must have been.  Anyone who has read the national and state news knows that this is not just a problem in Hawaii.  Although I don't have a lot of confidence in our state and local governments, there seems to be a larger issue of supply, demand, and distribution.  Hopefully it gets fixed soon.

Edited to add: Obie and I posted at the exact same time. I'm leaving the full message up in case the details are helpful to anyone.

[Hotinhawaii2]

Why does Hawaii Island have as of today, the lowest vaccination rate among the other islands? Are we not receiving vaccines according to population or are they just sitting in a freezer somewhere? Hilo medical center says they are vaccinating as they are available. So why aren’t we getting more vaccinated?

[kalakoa]

Blame the State (it takes "weeks" to move the vaccine around and make sure to have all the supplies) but they'll just turn around and blame the Feds, who will then try not to make it sound like the manufacturers are to blame (the Feds can afford better writers).

It's a moot point now that the virus is evolving faster than we can vaccinate.