ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Many people are finding it difficult to register to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Laura Dodd runs the St. Johns County COVID-19 hotline call center. She knows first hand how hard it can be for people to get vaccinated.
When the county opens its call center and website for vaccine registration, the appointments often get filled-up in minutes.
Dodd offered tips one how to schedule an appointment through the county's website:
1) Don’t stay at the top of the webpage. Go ahead and scroll down the page.
"A lot of people just stop at the first appointment," Dodd said. "So if they keep scrolling down the page, they may end up at another day, at another time. Keep scrolling down, and that may help them in the long run."
2) It doesn’t just have to be the person looking for the vaccine who registers that person online.
"It can be a family member, as long as they know the family member’s name, date of birth, and a good phone number, they could register them," Dodd said. "So the whole family can get involved."
3) Should you hit the refresh button or not? It depends.
The refresh button is the circular arrow on your computer screen that refreshes or updates the page.
"Follow the directions on what the webpage is telling you," Dodd explained. "So if it says, “Do not refresh," then do not refresh, because it probably means they’re in the queue ready to get the next ticket if it becomes available."
However, if the website your county or city uses instructs you to refresh the page, then by all means, refresh!
Dodd explained, "Go ahead and hit "refresh" and keep scrolling and looking for the next available appointment."
4) You can call the hotline with questions anytime during the day, at least in St. Johns County. The hotline is open 7 days a week. You might not get through when the registration window is open because of the rush of calls coming in. However, you can call at other times.
"So if they just want to talk to someone, call us," Dood said. "We give them helpful hints, how they can navigate the website, and we make sure they have the right information."
