EAST HAMPTON, Conn. — Most of us have found it very hard to schedule a Covid vaccine appointment. So, many are looking for alternative routes to this shot of hope, including one very popular health district.
The Health Director of the six-town Chatham Health District, which includes, Colchester, Hebron, Marlborough, East Hampton, East Haddam and Portland, says at the end of most of their covid vaccine clinics, there are remaining doses, which they won't let go to waste.
"There are a number of reasons, said Russell Melmed, Director of Health, for the Chatham Health District. "Either we had no-shows, people just don’t show up for their appointments or sometimes the vials are overfilled, and we can squeeze an extra dose."
He said it’s not uncommon for the vials to be overfilled.
So, the Chatham Health District, like many others, has created a waiting list. And some on the list will be alerted at the end of each clinic by email.
"Saying something like the first 10 people or the first 20 people to respond to this email we will send you the location of our clinic and if you come you may get a dose," Melmed explained.
Doses are never promised because they aren't exactly sure how many doses they will have.
"We’ve pulled people off our call down list at 10 o’clock at night you know they’ve come to our clinics in their pajamas throwing out their work boots untied wearing pajamas and they’re still really excited when we call him out of bed," Melmed said with a smile.
While still trying to schedule an appoint, he encourages you to reach out to your local health department to see if they have a list, which could become lengthy.
"Yesterday evening it was approaching 500," Melmed said of the Chatham Health District list. "I think, as of this morning, it was up to a thousand."
And what that says is we are in a period of high demand and low supply.
"We hope that by the month of May that will come into more balance," said Melmed.
He said the general rule of thumb with these waiting lists is, if you live or work within a 15-to-20-minute drive of where a clinic is, then it can't hurt to put your name on a list, unless there are a thousand people.
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