New Help on the Way to Help Schedule Your COVID Vaccine
A new phone registration system is set up to help those without internet access or who are having trouble navigating Allegheny County s vaccine registration website.
February 4, 2021
This story was updated at 4:30 Thursday, Feb. 4.
The Allegheny County Health Department, in partnership with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is trying to make it easier to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Beginning at noon Thursday, you can
dial 2-1-1 for help in registering or to have all of your vaccine questions answered.
The phone registration support is intended only for those 65 and older without internet access or who are having trouble navigating the registration website. Appointments are for the Health Department’s vaccine distribution site inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville only. Appointments remain extremely limited and the 750 slots that were available Thursday morning were gone by late Thur
211 line overwhelmed amid demand for COVID-19 vaccine appointments in Allegheny County
County officials said over 15,000 calls were coming in per second throughout the day. Share Updated: 8:36 PM EST Feb 4, 2021 Nick Matoney
County officials said over 15,000 calls were coming in per second throughout the day. Share Updated: 8:36 PM EST Feb 4, 2021
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Show Transcript SHE TRIED TO GET THROUGH TODAY. WHAT HAPPENED? ALLEGHENY COUNTY ANNOUNCED THIS HOTLINE EARLIER TODAY. IT’S MEANT FOR THOSE 65 AND OLDER WHO MIGHT NOT BE INTERNET SAVVY. THEY ANNOUNCED 700 50 APPOINTMENT WOULD BE AVAILABLE STARTING AT NOON, FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED. I WAS WITHIN O’HARE TOWNSHIP WOMAN WHO DID NOT GET THROUGH. IT HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE. SHE TAKES COVID SERIOUSLY. A DRIVEWAY WITH NO TIRE MARKS EVIDENCE THAT FEW PEOPLE COME AND GO. IT IS FRUSTRATING. IT IS HER AND HER 94-YEAR-OLD MOTHER,A BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR. I DON’T KNOW WHERE
Megan Guza
Kristina Serafini | Tribune-Review
Doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine sit on a table at St. Thomas More Manor in Bethel Park during a clinic Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.
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A phone line meant to help seniors and those without internet access set up covid-19 vaccination appointments lasted less than four hours Thursday before appointments were full but it was long enough for scammers to begin intercepting calls and asking for money, according to Allegheny County officials.
Beginning at noon, a partnership between the United Way and the Allegheny County Health Department meant that Allegheny County residents eligible for the vaccine could call 2-1-1 to schedule an appointment at the county’s point of dispensing in Monroeville rather than rely on the internet.
Karolina Kabat / Flickr
As Allegheny County residents continue competing online for limited COVID-19 vaccine appointments, those without computers have often been left in the dust. Thursday, the County Health Department launched a telephone hotline to help individuals over 65 book appointments at one of the county’s vaccine clinics.
“Navigating the online registration can be a challenge for some of our county’s seniors, and vaccinating this group is a top priority for the Health Department,” Health Department director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a press release announcing the hotline.
Allegheny County residents over age 65 can call 2-1-1 for help booking vaccine appointments at the clinic, which is located inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville. The health department said operators with the hotline will also answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccines.