Letter: State of Florida has let down those of us who got on the vaccine waiting list early

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Dear Editor:

The public service article by the Flagler County public information officer published in the Palm Coast Observer falls short of describing problems associated with the state’s Sharecare vaccination appointment process and is a whitewash of the state’s failures.

Those that signed up for the waiting list through Flagler County prior to Jan. 30, the date the appointment scheduling process transferred to the State, were assured they would get a preferential position on the state’s Sharecare waiting list. This may or may not have happened

The calls eventually made by Sharecare to those on the waiting list often showed up as a “spam” call on people’s phones, no messages were left, and no text messages or emails were sent. In other words, people, anxiously waiting to get vaccinated, had no way of knowing they were being reached out to to schedule their vaccination unless they answered a call designated as "spam" ... and who does that?

Sharecare representatives acknowledged, without explanation, that they were instructed not to leave a message. And they are aware that their calls were showing up as spam. How many people are still waiting to get scheduled for a vaccination that could have been done weeks ago? And now they are being asked to re-register because of the State’s shortcomings.

Bob Gordon
Palm Coast