LETTER: Frustrated with vaccination process
Being a mama’s boy has its benefits and its fair share of frets. My mom is living with me this winter in Claysville. We have been jumping through hopes trying to figure out this whole vaccination appointment schedule. Every entity in Pennsylvania has its own proprietary registration. Maybe they are fair, maybe they are not. My mom, being from the hills of Forest County way up north, worries from time to time that she will be rejected because we are looking in the southwestern end of the state. Kind of like Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem for a census registration. She worries that she will be forced to travel to Forest or Clarion counties to get her vaccine. There is no rhyme or reason for all these registrations being different. We don’t mind the wait; we are just frustrated by repeated registrations for every vaccination venue.
A few rants (think my two cents):
1. A common registration form from the state or local health department is needed; a form that can be used across the board for all entities giving vaccinations would simplify the process.
2. Washington County needs a health department, maybe in coordination with Washington and Mon Valley hospitals. I do believe the hospitals and the local pharmacies are doing yeomen’s work, and I am thankful that they have mine and my mom’s backs.
3. Lack of internet for older citizens of the commonwealth is going to hamper vaccinations. The whole registration process for for-profit companies like Giant Eagle and the chain pharmacies means that lack of internet savvy or internet service could very well be deadly.
There’s no fear at our house over this pandemic. Frustration, yes, with a great, big helping of stoic resolve to find a vaccination for my mom. A better way may be out there; I just don’t know what it looks like.
Did I mention my wife is a daddy’s girl and she has pretty much the same rants as I do?
Stephen T. Nardi
Claysville