KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Missouri and Kansas move forward in their COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans, some people in previous phases have yet to get an appointment.
To make sure no one slips through the cracks, local health officials are focusing on getting people 65 and over vaccinated who have not yet already.
Johnson County resident Elizabeth Blankenship said she received the first dose of her vaccine Tuesday, but getting there was quite the process.
Blankenship is 65-years-old and signed up on the county's website two months ago. She said she never received information about an appointment and eventually got one through word of mouth.
"I'm relieved, I'm just so glad," Blankenship said.
As the state prepares to move into the next phase, she worries about other people her age who might be left behind.
"To me, opening a new phase is when people can make appointments very easily," Blankenship said.
The county is currently working to determine how many people 65 and over have yet to receive a vaccine.
Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, said the county sent out a poll to people 65 and over on its sign-up list Tuesday asking if they had received a vaccine yet.
Areola said he can't give an exact number, but there are likely a couple thousand people still in need of a vaccine the County will start to reach out to.
"The goal for us is between now and the end of next week to reach out to those who are on the list who said they haven't been vaccinated who are 65 plus and do our best to get them appointments," Areola said.
There could be several reasons for the number of folks still without vaccine.
"Part of the issue frankly is based on this data that shows a couple thousand persons, we really have had enough appointments for people in this group, so we've had some of the appointments taken up by people who are not 65 plus," Areola said.
Areola said another part of the problem could be people not showing up appointments.
"Tuesday we had appointments for 1,600 people and we had about 200 people not show up who had an appointment," Areola said.
He said the poll should help determine why there's a gap in this age group receiving vaccine.
In Missouri, the Mid-America Regional Council has a call center to help seniors make appointments.
James Stowe, director of aging and adult services for MARC, said the demand continues to hold steady at nearly 150-200 calls a day.
"It's flowing a little better now and we're having more opportunity to get people actually signed up at the time they call," Stowe said.
With the help of volunteers, the call center was established in Feb. Stowe said he expects a leveling off of demand around May as older people move through the vaccination system.
People 60 and over who live in Jackson, Clay, Platte, Cass or Ray counties can call 1-800-593-7948 to get help with registering for a vaccine.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the health department is prioritizing people 65 and over for current appointments.
Dr. Rex Archer, director of the KCMO Health Department, is encouraging anyone over 65 and not yet vaccinated to call 311 to sign up for a vaccine.
Representatives will be able to help with questions about emails and calls. Archer is encouraging people to answer their phones even if they don't recognize the number.
"If you're waiting to get your COVID vaccine, you need to answer your phone and if it's a marketer hang up on them if you don't want to talk to them, but don't screen your calls in the same way because that's been another problem for folks," Archer said.
Once you've gotten a vaccine, Archer said don't stop there.
"You've probably got friends that are over 65 so call and ask if they've gotten vaccinated yet, share your experience," Archer said.
