Finding out how to get a vaccine appointment was more straightforward for Gerald Kahn, 76, who lives in Madison, Connecticut.
Kahn got an email notice from the state’s vaccine registration system telling him to make an appointment, but he ran into problems at the very end of the sign-up process.
“As much as I would pound my finger on the face of my iPad, it didn’t do me any good,” he said.
So Kahn did what many have and called a younger family member, who was able to help him finish signing up.
“I think there are a lot of people my age, maybe the preponderance, who can only go so far into the internet, and then we’re not only stymied but also frustrated,” he said.
When Helen Francke, 92, logged on for a vaccine at the designated time, she discovered the spots available in Washington, D.C., filled up almost instantaneously.
“It was evident that I was much too slow,” she said. “It’s terribly competitive and clearly favors those with advanced computer skills.”
The next week, Francke tried calling and going online — this time with the help of her neighbors — without success.
“If I had had to depend on the D.C. vaccination website and telephone, I’d still be anxious and unsuccessful,” said Francke, who got a shot only after finding information on a neighborhood discussion group that directed her to a hospital.
In Arizona, Karen Davis, 80, ended up on a roundabout quest through state and hospital websites with no clear sense of how to actually book an appointment.
“I kept trying to do it and kind of banged my head against the wall too many times,” she said.
Davis, a retired nurse, called her doctor and the pharmacy and then eventually turned to a younger relative, who managed to book a 5 a.m. appointment at a mass vaccination site.
“I’m sure they did not expect older people to be able to do this,” she said.
Miguel Lerma, who lives in Phoenix, said his 69-year-old mother has been unsuccessful in finding a shot.
“She’s not an English speaker and doesn’t know technology well, and that’s how everything is being done,” said Lerma, 31.
Lerma said it’s especially painful to watch his mother struggle to get the vaccine — because he lost his father to covid last year.
“She’s mourning not only for my dad, but she’s also suffering as an adult now because she depended on him for certain tasks,” Lerma said. “He would’ve handled all this.”
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