By Susan Hardee Steger
January 4, 2020
During a special meeting of the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners, Dr. Ngo-Seidel from the Florida Department of Health and Greg Foster, from Nassau County Emergency Management updated the commission on the launch of Nassau County’s vaccine process.
Today, Nassau County Emergency Management (NCEM) began its vaccine efforts for individuals 65 and older. Within minutes, the available appointments were booked.
Since more vaccines are expected, the opportunity to schedule another appointment could be available tomorrow. For individuals with cell phones, the easiest way to be notified of the next appointment opening is to text the number 888777 and place in the message area the word, NassauSafe A response will follow. Once appointments are again opened, you will receive an update.
Nassau County’s E-Appointment system for appointment scheduling through event-brite was developed after reaching out to various counties of similar size, some of which had begun the vaccine process. This system avoids some of the pitfalls of other roll-outs, said Foster. Information provided by Dr Seidel, indicated 95% of residents in Nassau County have availability to technology and use it. Dr Seidel encouraged individuals to offer help to those who might need assistant with the e-appointment system. This is the preferred method of scheduling an appointment.
Once the appointment system is again opened, a Citizens Information Center at the NCEM facility is available to arrange appointments by calling 904-548-0900. Only those 65 and older should call for appointment scheduling. The information center is in need of volunteers, especially individuals with a medical license and background. Please call 904-491-7550 if you can offer assistance.
How many people are getting a “TICKET” in a nan-o-second??? We have clicked “GET TICKET” within 3 seconds of getting the E-Alert, with an Unavailable and then ALL tickets have been given away. NO information is provided as to how many slots are being filled … is it 10 or is it 100. Now it looks like our next opportunity for a Vaccination slot is at the end of January…and that’s only if we can be faster in response. The phone number provided at the Nassau Health Dept is BUSY…so there is no way of knowing if we are doing this right. Who can live their life this way?? On a scale of 1 – 5, right now the way this system is working is on the scale of a minus 1…..
Yes, I must agree with Mr. & Mrs. Morris, local planning and preparation is no better than the rest of the U.S., which is very poor.
I rec’d an e-ticket and clicked on it. Two dates came up, but no information of what to do next. Tried clicking on dates and they were gone. Then information came up and said there were no more tickets. All this in a matter of seconds.
The process for getting tickets is not working properly. We need other alternative avenues for getting the vaccination.
Editor’s Note: Our thanks to Dave Richardson who responded to our request for a clear step by step process for signing up for vaccine appointments. The best way to be notified quickly of the appointment openings in our opinion, is to first sign up for the text alert (instructions below).
If you have signed up correctly, you will immediately receive a confirmation text. If not, try again. After a successful signup, you will be notified via text when vaccine appointments are opened. We encourage those who know of technically challenged individuals in the 65 and older age group, to reach out and lend a hand.
After trying this morning at 10:00 and getting nowhere, I’ve lost all confidence in being able to get a vaccination.