Frustrated residents arrive at Natick Mall vax site with no appointment looking for help
Frustrated seniors and others with underlying medical conditions came to the new Natick Mall mass vaccination site looking for help, but most were turned away.
“I was hoping I could walk in and book (a shot) right here,” said Dorothea Intinarelli, a 74-year-old Natick resident with Type 2 diabetes and stage 3 chronic kidney failure.
Intinarelli said she went through all the steps online several times but couldn’t book a coronavirus vaccine appointment so she, like many others on Monday morning, arrived at the state’s newest mass vaccination site to ask for help but quickly got turned back around.
One passerby told the Herald she didn’t have a computer at home so she walked into the site seeking assistance and walked out moments later without a solution.
Amal Guirguis, who works in Natick, also showed up at the mall after she successfully booked a date for her sister Nadia’s vaccine, but wasn’t given a time to arrive.
“It frustrates me … I got the date but no time,” said Guirguis. After a few minutes inside, she exited with a smile hidden behind her mask.
“I’m so happy … this is more than the lottery,” she said, having finally secured a timeslot.
Guirguis is one of the lucky few.
Another couple at the mall who declined to offer their name said they were online for nine hours trying to book an appointment.
“Refreshing the site, refreshing the site, crash, crash, crash,” said the 67-year-old man who arrived with no appointment.
Those who did get vaccinated said the actual process inside the clinic was seamless, but locking down the appointment was not easy.
Claire Kirylo of Somerville said she and her daughter worked for two hours on two separate computers trying to get the appointment and eventually gave up before trying again hours later and getting a spot.
Nancy Keith, 73, of Norwood had a friend help her get the appointment after months of anxiously awaiting her turn, “I wanted this vaccine desperately and they weren’t allowing it so I don’t understand why Governor Baker has held back as long as he has.”
Jane Peterson of Shrewsbury said she felt, “very very lucky” her daughter was able to book a spot as soon as residents 65 and older became eligible.
LabCorp, based in North Carolina, runs the vaccination site and said 100 people were immunized on Monday and by April the site will be vaccinating up to 7,000 people a day.
When asked by the Herald about what LabCorp staff do when an individual shows up seeking help with scheduling, a spokesperson replied, “Scheduling is done through the state. We’re not involved with that.”
The state did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment on whether there are plans to offer in-person scheduling solutions.
The Natick clinic marks the state’s fifth mass vaccination clinic with a sixth location opening up in Dartmouth on Wednesday.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3bs2e6c
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