My first attempt to schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 shot in Arizona


It's January 18th, 2021, and good friend of mine asked if I could help find out how he could get his COVID-19 shot. He's over 75, and he had heard that shots were being done at the Cardinals Stadium, which is not far from where he lives in Glendale, Arizona. Actually, its official name is the State Farm Stadium, but I've never heard anyone call it that.

He was understandably disappointed that there was no way to make an appointment with the telephone, and since I've always been his favorite computer geek, he turned to me. From the tangle of information that he had given me, and some thorough digging on the web, I found the website that's been set up for the Arizona Vaccination Program. This is it: https://podvaccine.azdhs.gov/signup

POD, by the way, stand for Point Of Dispensing, which is the place where you can get a shot.

The website, which looks great, cheerfully assured me that I could book and schedule vaccination appointment in minutes. I'm an old hand at this kind of stuff, so I made myself some coffee, invited my friend to look over my shoulder so I could put in his information, and after about a half-hour had accomplished absolutely nothing. Well, we now have an account, with a password and a userid, but that's it. There was no way to book or schedule an appointment. At first I was inclined to think that maybe there was something wrong with the website, but upon reflection my best guess is that all of the available doses have been scheduled. Of course, the site doesn't say that, so I'm just guessing. It just says something about "no events". So the Point of Dispensing places only give shots at certain times, which are called "events" - that's what I figure.

My feelings are mixed about this. Of course I expected that since this is a government website that it wouldn't work very well. I worked at a Community College for years, and I sympathize. It's all part of keeping the costs down, and websites that function perfectly and are well-designed are VERY expensive. That being said, I was kinda hoping that Arizona would live up to his reputation, and that the anti-vaxxers would leave plenty for the rest of us. Apparently there are a LOT of people in Arizona, especially senior citizens, who want the vaccine, if I understand what's going on here.

I know that there are a lot of hard-working people out there doing the best they can. This is a matter of life and death, and people know that.

I'll keep you informed on what I find out.
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