LYME/OLD LYME — (From a press release issued by Ledge Light Health Department (LLHD)) The State has opened vaccine eligibility to people ages 75 and older but the weekly shipments of vaccine are still not stable, and everyone cannot be vaccinated in the first few weeks.
Most appointments are made through electronic registration systems, which may be challenging or inaccessible for some eligible people. The State has established a hotline for people, who do not have computer access to call to schedule appointments, and some providers have their own hotlines, but the wait times are often very long.
The good news is that more providers are coming online and appointments are starting to open up.
Last week the only available appointments showing in the system were in March; 75+ individuals who registered early may have an appointment that is more than a month out. Vaccine providers have been directed to focus on this population and cancel appointments of people who are not eligible.
Those currently eligible individuals with appointments in March may want to consider trying again to get an earlier appointment.
Note that you cannot look for an appointment in the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) without canceling your existing appointment, which individuals may be understandably reluctant to do. It might help to note that LLHD and many other providers do not put appointments in the system until there is vaccine in hand to give, and that the State projects that all 75+ individuals will be vaccinated by mid-February, based on current supply projections.
In addition, healthcare providers who are coming online as vaccine providers are beginning to reach out to their 75+ patients, so individuals may get a call directly from their healthcare provider inviting them in for a vaccination.
Ledge Light Health District continues to work to support the individuals and communities in the community it serves by collecting and connecting resources, providing education and support, providing vaccines (limited in number due to low supply), and advocating for appointment systems to be simpler and accessible in multiple languages and formats.
Local COVID Vaccinations At-a-Glance
Currently Vaccinating: Healthcare Personnel, Medical First Responders, Individuals ages 75 and older
Current Vaccine Providers within LLHD:
- LLHD – vaccination appointments are scheduled through the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS). Visit https://llhd.org and enter your name and email address to begin your registration in VAMS. Note that each person enrolling must have a unique email address. Phone appointments cannot be made at this time.
- Community Health Center, Inc. – vaccination appointments are scheduled through VAMS. Visit https://llhd.org and enter your name and email address to begin your registration in VAMS. Note that each person enrolling must have a unique email address. People without computer access or in need of support in languages other than English can call the State hotline at 877-918-2224 or 211. The wait times for assistance on the hotline are very long.
- Hartford Healthcare – vaccination appointments are scheduled through the Hartford Healthcare MyChart Plus System. Note that the Hartford Healthcare MyChart is different from the Yale New Haven Health System MyChart. You do not have to be a patient at Hartford Healthcare or have an existing MyChart account to sign-up. Visit https://mychartplus.org/mychart/signup. People without computer access can call the Hartford Healthcare Access Center at 860.827.7690.
- Yale New Haven Health System – vaccination appointments are scheduled through the Yale New Haven portal at https://www.ynhhs.org/patient-care/covid-19/vaccine/get-your-covid-vaccine.aspx. You do not have to be a patient at Yale New Haven Health System or have an existing MyChart account to sign-up.
Billing:
There is no charge for the COVID vaccination. Some provider systems erroneously sent bills to some patients last week; this error has been corrected.
Editor’s Note: LymeLine.com reader Dwayne Basler kindly sent us this information as a comment on a different article: “This website has vaccination data. It looks like we’re at about 5 percent vaccinated. A long way to go but an army of dedicated people getting it done! https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations “
What is unique email address? I only have one email address.
Thank you for your question, Emily. We say “unique email address” to indicate we will not publish comments from readers, who use generic emails such as “[email protected].” Comments from your email address are welcome.
Emily, We misunderstood your question. Dana has kindly answered your question for us. See her comment below.
Just a comment about the question asked about the unique email address. I believe it is in reference to this statement: “LLHD – vaccination appointments are scheduled through the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS). Visit https://llhd.org and enter your name and email address to begin your registration in VAMS. Note that each person enrolling must have a unique email address. Phone appointments cannot be made at this time.”
I am not eligible to register yet, but I have read that each person has to have their own email address. So, if a couple uses a one email address, they would need to create another email address for the second person to register for an appointment. Odd, but apparently this is a quirk of the VAMS System.
Thank you so much for clarifying this, Dana. We had misunderstood the question from someone who had commented previously regarding “unique email addresses” and really appreciate you explaining the situation.