EMS DIRECTOR DISCUSSES REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR VACCINE SUBHUB, TIMELINE FOR MORE VACCINES
As COVID-19 vaccinations continue at the Washington County Expo, officials are making preparations to ensure residents can more easily register to receive the next shipment of vaccines.
EMS Director Kevin Deramus spoke at Tuesday’s Washington County Commissioners meeting, where he went over how the Regional Vaccination subHUB handled receiving hundreds of thousands of calls from residents looking to get vaccinated.
Deramus admitted that getting people registered to receive vaccines quickly has been difficult, but the problem is not exclusive to this location.
According to Faith Mission Executive Director Reverend Randy Wells, there were ten incoming capable phone lines to receive calls at the call center. Deramus said the phone software, which was handled by county IT Director T.J. Harris, allowed call takers to reach out to callers to get them registered.
Deramus said the callback list can be used once the subHUB receives more vaccines from the state to pick up where this past round of registration left off, but believes many on the list will likely get vaccines from other providers in the time it takes to get another vaccine shipment. That being the case, he said the list will likely be old and have to be reset when more vaccines arrive, which he said could be as soon as next week or take up to a few months.
According to the City of Brenham, over 100,000 callers remain on the callback list. An automated message will be going out starting today (Wednesday) informing those on the list that the registration process has closed. Deramus said callers should be given automated instructions on how to stay on the list. If and when more vaccines are received, those on the callback list will be notified by either call or email.
According to Deramus, 500 people were scheduled to be vaccinated by the end of Tuesday. The federal government and the State of Texas allocated 2,000 vaccines to the subHUB. He estimated that around 50 people could go through the current vaccination drive-thru each hour, but believes that number could be pushed to 100 per hour with more vaccines, meaning approximately 1,200 vaccinations could take place in a 12-hour day.
Deramus said there has been “overwhelming support” from volunteers, adding there were 64 people from 26 different agencies represented Monday during the test pilot for the subHUB. Commissioner Joy Fuchs said this has been a “great team effort,” with County Judge John Durrenberger saying a team needs to have a leader, and commended Deramus for leading this effort.
100,000 people wanted the vaccine but only 2,000 could get it. Yes, the registration process was clearly poorly planned, but at the end of the day there were always going to be 98,000 frustrated people. This was essentially a lotto. If you are all frustrated, imagine those of us who aren’t in Phase 1, amd couldn’t even enter the lotto. We will probably wait a year or more to be vaccinated, and must go to work everyday and be exposed in order to feed our families. This can kill us too. I will just get to cross my fingers and hope I don’t.die while you all scream about having to hit redial (gasp!) Y’all need to stay inside a little longer and practice patience and empathy. My sense is that most of the people involved in this project are frustrated too. Hopefully this was a learning experience and they will plan the next registration better.
Finally got through to the auto response on Monday, as did my wife, on out cell phones. We live in rural Washington County. Thanks to Century Link refusing to update their equipment in our area, we cannot get a land line telephone. As of today, Thursday Jan 21, we have not received callbacks. We both qualify for Tier 1B, due to age, but can’t get far enough into the registration process in order to record that. This system is a farce.
My mother has been trying since Monday morning and she’s been told from a very reliable source that several people are getting in without an appointment because someone is related to one of the volunteers who is administering the vaccine and is calling their close family and friends to come in especially if someone doesn’t show up for their appointment.
I was one of the people that had to leave a message for a return call. Still waiting. Wonder if people from outside the participating counties are getting the vaccines before the locals? I have just about given up getting the vaccine. I know they are overwhelmed but who thought that 10 phones could handle all the calls? Sometimes you need to have someone on hand with experience that can coordinate this. I applaud what they did but I guess the government thinks rural folks are not at risk. So sad.
Received my shot today. The process was fast and very efficient. After seeing places that people were in line for hours, this was a pleasant surprise. When I received my call back yesterday, I also got date and time for second shot. Who ever organized this event had it together. I cannot say enough good things about all the people working there. Hope you get more vaccines for others soon as I understand their frustration.
Brenham is very lucky to have the vaccination site here locally. Even though everyone could not be served this week, it is a start and hopefully more vaccine will be here shortly. This was not an easy task to coordinate and we should be thankful for all the hard work and hours of preparation. Thank you for a job well done!
What a joke! My wife and I attempted to call the 800# on Monday over 500, that’s correct, 500 times between the two of us.All we got was a busy signal or a recording stating our call could not be completed at this time. Move wife continued to try off and on during the day and after 1:00 that afternoon, got a recording saying she would be called back within 24 hours. I then trains got same recording. I heard Mr. Deramus state on the radio that they would attempt 3 callbacks. I got one 29 hrs later and was unable to answer the call. No more call back! My wife never got a call. Now the real “kicker”. I have a friend that lives in Austin Co. who called on Tuesday, not Monday, and got same recording. He was called back on Wednesday morning stating he had an appointment at 2:00 Wednesday afternoon for a vaccination. Another “finely tuned” government run program!!
Thank you for your detailed report on your personal experience. I too placed over 300 calls, all but four reached a busy signal. But those four calls were purposefully disconnected. Now keeping in mind that all phone systems have caller ID with name display, it makes this experience highly suspicious. If anyone else had this experience it would be nice to know. Listening to the news this morning Dr. Gupta announced that the new federal administration inherited a zero vaccine plan and that certain states have many vaccine doses but woefully underfunded state health departments which has halted public vaccinations. He stated that the Feds must start from scratch and FEMA will come to the rescue of the states with poorly funded health departments. He sees some meaningful relief by summer. In the meantime, far too many souls will be lost and too much grief will overcome.
FYI…..I received a recorded call back the next but the message cut off about half way through so I have no idea what it was trying to say.
Small CA cities had no issues getting thru to register. My cousins had no issues like this. It takes a professional in communication to get a job like this done properly. Pray that the Feds take over the distribution and administering of this life saving vaccine. God speed.
You hope the feds take over. I cannot stop laughing!!
Yes,there were problems with the phone system,but the vaccination process at the fairgrounds was flawless. Everyone involved should be commended for their service. Thanks to everyone involved.
I understand the frustration regarding the initial call-in process. I also made hundreds of calls the first hour in an attempt to get through. In the second hour, with much persistence, I was fortunate enough to get through. The person that registered me was professional and the registration process went quickly. The process at the sub-hub from beginning to end was fantastic. Thank you to all those involved. I am certain both Monday and Tuesday were very trying days for everyone.
Unfortunately, there is a limited supply of the vaccine and I don’t suspect that our local officials can do much about that. Perhaps until more doses are available as a community we might be able to do a little better at wearing masks to help prevent the spread. I know there may be some response to my statement from those that think masks are not effective. The science indicates masks help mitigate transmission. I still see lots of people in and around town that don’t wear masks, or they were them under their chin, Get a grip. Love your neighbor enough to not spread COVID even though I recognize I’m not the boss of you or that your own political views of mask-wearing are your right.
Why not use an on line registration system? Reserve the phone lines for persons without internet.? You cannot imagine how frustrating it was listening to busy signals!! I, of course NEVER got through. Never got a callback.