Trial, error & success: Last week, the publisher made every single miscue registering for a coveted vaccination

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It was by guess and by golly–or–you might say that I lucked out when procuring a coveted appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination this past week. I had learned from a staff member that his grandmother’s vaccination appointment would be cancelled due to another, more important, medical appointment.

After going into the online registration website and filling out the questionnaire–being 65 years of age provided entry into Phase 1B–I felt like a stalker waiting for that 1:40 p.m. appointment link to turn from red to green.

That took a couple of minutes. It finally did. From there, the registration process was slick. That’s because I’d learned lessons from the previous day–and as it turned out still others to learn

I want to take you through my experiences from trying to register on Monday, Jan. 25, to finding that open appointment the next day to receiving the vaccination on Wednesday in the hopes that readers will benefit from my experiences and miscues.

In a sense, this is like a perfect storm here in Jo Daviess County relying on less-than perfect software for vaccination appointment registration coupled with great demand and nearly not enough vaccine. Currently this is a no-win situation especially when you consider that there is just a single day of vaccinations taking place here this week.

Something will need to give or the health department’s Facebook page will be filled with comments expressing disappointment and anger over the vaccination rollout. . .which is exactly why Facebook shouldn’t be a primary tool for promoting vaccination appointments.

As many others did at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, I waited patiently at jodaviess.org for the registration site–created by the Illinois Department of Public Health–to open. Once there, filling out the brief questionnaire proved to be the easy part. You fill it out and then on the next page review and approve your responses.

That takes you to the appointment page where you’ll certainly be struck with the myriad of appointment times 10 minutes apart. Green means there are open times and red means the two appointments for that time are already booked.

This is where the confusion begins.

The first go around, I clicked on an open day/time only to eventually get to a page which had text stating something like this, “save to your calendar.” I rejoiced and bragged about getting an appointment only to learn a few minutes later from staff member Brandon Behlke that I’d missed the yellow type on the right side of the page noting the times had already been reserved.

I tried again on another green tab and came to a spot with small clickable boxes next to a first and second vaccinations. I clicked them feeling successful only to learn that someone had beaten me to the time. Others met with similar results.

Defeat. All the appointment times by then were red.

And so I learned a lesson that more than one person can be reserving a time at once. That’s because each time slot has two vaccination appointments. So, there could be three, four, five or more people in that appointment day/time trying to latch onto one of those coveted appointments.

The fact that this can happen leads to dead ends and frustration.

Being a lot smarter, from experience, Tuesday’s effort was productive. When the time slot, 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 27, turned green, I knew exactly what to do. I navigated through the pages, clicked on the two vaccination shots and then said, “Eureka!” when the next page showed up with a green check mark, the words “Thank you” and the word “Confirmed” in a green box.

In my in box appeared an email noting success with a note that a confirmation email regarding approval of the appointment would soon be arriving. That email arrived in late afternoon.

I printed it in anticipation of the next day’s appointment.

Another miscue!

On the bottom of the email was a link attached to these words, “View order details.”

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So the piece of paper I took to the appointment was. . .well. . .worthless.

I needed to click on the link, “View order details” and print the next page which included a QR Code. It is that code which is scanned in the entrance foyer at Midwest Medical Center and which is scanned when receiving your vaccination.

There is nothing in the confirmation email that mentions a QR Code in the appointment details. It ought to!

Luckily, I had the email from the health department on my iPhone and obtained the QR Code that way.

As I had finished with my registration in the foyer, a retiree arrived with a piece of paper on hand. There was no appointment for her. She thought she had an appointment when receiving a page that said, “Save date to calendar. She had the same experience I first had.”

She was told that she needed to register again and remarked that she didn’t have a computer. She handled the situation remarkably well and I offered to help when appointments next opened. (Since then have been asked for help from another couple without a computer at home.)

I had arrived early for my appointment only to learn I couldn’t gain entrance to the hospital until close to my appointment time. So, if you arrive early for your appointment, and it’s cold outside, make sure you have your coat with you. With people leaving and arriving at the hospital the foyer gets a little chilly.

Once inside the hospital, the rest of the process was a breeze and I can’t say enough how friendly and accommodating the health department staff members were in the Vista Cafe area. I filled out an authorization form and answered a few questions before being sent in with Lori Stangl, director of clinical services, who provided the immunization. (Please note: the immunization area has now been moved to a room across from the doctors’ clinic on the second floor of the hospital.)

The actual shot took just a matter of seconds and didn’t hurt one bit, although my upper left arm was sore the next day. There were no other side effects.

As I left the immunization room, I received a card showing I’d received my first shot and the knowledge that I’d receive an email regarding the second immunization on Feb. 26.

It was nice to see Dave Silaggi, a retiree, and Susan Friederick, a Galena High School teacher, there for their vaccinations, as well. I hadn’t seen either in a very long time and this proved a wonderful way to catch up with our lives. There was one law enforcement officer and the rest were retirees, either waiting for their vaccination or staying for the required 15 minute waiting period after vaccination.

The power elite of Jo Daviess County weren’t being vaccinated that afternoon.

I am sure that as the kinks get worked out, as people learn the ropes and as the health department has a better idea as to how much vaccine it will receive each week–as the President Biden administration has promised–the registration process will smooth out.

But I am worried about those most vulnerable living here in Jo Daviess County and those without a computer, internet or the skill sets to wade through the registration process. That is the downside of accepting only online appointments.

As things stand now, it’s going to be up to the people of Jo Daviess County to offer a helping hand to their friends and neighbors who need help registering for their vaccination. It will take the work of churches, service clubs and organizations to provide this humane service.

This seems to me to be an opportunity to provide that lending hand. But there must be a way to create a list of people who need help so help can be on the way.

On Monday morning, the woman who showed up for her vaccination without an appointment called Hartig’s in Galena–Hartig’s is accepting names for its vaccination waiting list online. She explained that she had no computer at home and was told that someone would call later in the day when there was more time to help her get her name on that waiting list. That’s customer service.

P. Carter Newton, publisher,

cnewton@galgazette.com