Residents express concerns over ‘digital divide’ in securing COVID vaccine appointments

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Vaccine allocation has been opened up to the public more widely, with California seniors now given priority.

With many of the appointments online, some residents are concerned that not all will be able to access the vaccine, such as those without internet access or who lack service in their location.

CVS, Safeway and our local hospitals are opening up vaccine appointments to a wider group in Monterey County: people age 75 and older.

County leaders and health care systems say there’s no shortage of
people to fill the limited appointments that are currently available, and
they’re filling up fast.

A spokesperson for Montage health tells us 1,020 appointments for the first
of two clinics this week filled up in just 39 minutes.

The challenge for the county is making sure those who need them the most have access to computers and the internet to schedule an appointment.

“Watching the digital divide in real time for our kids is now becoming a
reality for our families, in terms of getting access for seniors to the
vaccine,” Supervisor Chris Lopez said.

The Board of Supervisors acknowledged the issue in a board meeting today.

“The access to a computer, the access to a device, and the comfort with the
technology, primarily in English to start is something we’re concerned about but we hope to have some solutions rolling out here very soon,” Lopez said.

Until then, Montage Health recommends seniors connect with a friend,
family-member, or neighbor to assist them in gaining access.

CVS announced today that they’ll be administering vaccines at 100 locations
across California, including Monterey and Carmel.

It’s unclear if other Central Coast locations will be included in the
rollout, but some supervisors expressed frustration that some of the
hardest hit areas, such as Salinas, weren’t announced in the rollout.

To address these equity issues, Supervisor Luis Alejo is suggesting doses be
set aside for these areas.

“I don’t see why there is a reason why we couldn’t make a reservation system that gives a certain allotment to residents in those hardest hit areas
either,” Alejo said.

But this won’t be easy to overcome: under the current state system, Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno
says people aren’t restricted to their zip code.

“There are people who as you mentioned, supervisor, who can get on the
website and may live perhaps on the peninsula and can find a vaccine clinic appointments in South County,” Moreno said. “Unfortunately, when it's an open pod like that, that's one of the struggles.”

Supervisor Lopez says he anticipates they’ll need some kind of one on one
assistance, such as phone based assistance to bridge the digital divide.

We reached out to CVS to obtain a full list of the cities that will
be included in their rollout.

Safeway will have two locations they’ll administer vaccines at including one on Constitution Boulevard.

Montage Health, which includes Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, is opening two COVID-19 vaccination clinic sites for the public this week. The vaccinations at these sites are by appointment only and are filled for this week, but the health care system recommends people who are ages 75 and older check the sites below frequently for any open appointments:
www.chomp.org/covidvaccine
https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/health/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/vaccination-registration