SARASOTA, Fla. — Many seniors are becoming frustrated while trying to book appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Right now, many Tampa Bay area counties that received the vaccine this week to distribute to seniors are using Eventbrite (an online ticketing system) to make vaccine appointments.
Counties say online appointments are the fastest way to safely get doses to people 65 and up.
But appointments fill up as fast as they open and many older people who are not tech-savvy are wondering why there wasn't a better plan in place sooner.
Seniors who couldn’t get appointments online showed up at the Sarasota Health Department hoping to get a vaccine on Thursday but were turned away.
"I tried to sign up. It's very very frustrating. As soon as you get on they say it’s full. I made the trip into town figuring maybe, and it's not happening," said Gladys Shapero, a senior, unable to get an appointment for the vaccine.
County health departments say the state is supposed to be coming out with an online appointment system and call center in the next couple of weeks.
Until then they’re encouraging people to keep going online to check if appointments are available.
