BINGO! Richard has a vaccine appointment!
Feb. 5th, 2021 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkIt's through HealthPartners, for next Tuesday. Details below are probably of interest only to other HealthPartners patients who are currently waiting for their own vaccination opportunity.
tldr; HP is currently offering appointments to patients already in their system who are age 75 or older. Appointments are subject to availability, which I think means that they sent out a lot more of these emails than they have vaccine for. However, we managed to get an appointment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard and I have HealthPartners insurance and get all our care through the Park Nicollet system and he is over 75 (I'm not). On Jan 18 we both got rather vague emails letting us know that vaccines would be available at some time in the indefinite future through HealthPartners, subject to vaccine availability (which is very limited. Repeat, VERY LIMITED. Again, VERY LIMITED, got that?). Don't call us, we'll call you. Oh, and please logon and update your contact information. That seemed like a good idea, so I did, giving them email and cellphone.
Today, Richard got an email with the encouraging subject heading, "It's your turn to get vaccinated," the meat of which is:
tldr; HP is currently offering appointments to patients already in their system who are age 75 or older. Appointments are subject to availability, which I think means that they sent out a lot more of these emails than they have vaccine for. However, we managed to get an appointment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard and I have HealthPartners insurance and get all our care through the Park Nicollet system and he is over 75 (I'm not). On Jan 18 we both got rather vague emails letting us know that vaccines would be available at some time in the indefinite future through HealthPartners, subject to vaccine availability (which is very limited. Repeat, VERY LIMITED. Again, VERY LIMITED, got that?). Don't call us, we'll call you. Oh, and please logon and update your contact information. That seemed like a good idea, so I did, giving them email and cellphone.
Today, Richard got an email with the encouraging subject heading, "It's your turn to get vaccinated," the meat of which is:
We're happy to share that you may now schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. The vaccine is currently being offered to our patients age 75 years and above. ...COVID-19 vaccines are given in two doses. You can now schedule your first dose. After your appointment, we'll help you schedule your second dose. You won't pay anything for your COVID-19 vaccine.
The email contained a non-transferable link that smoothly took us to his online account. Once we logged in, all the identifying information was filled in automatically, including his insurance ID. There were a few questions, with emphasis on "Are you likely to go into anaphylactic shock?" and then we were presented with a short list of large HP clinics where we could presumably book an appointment. Of course we clicked on Methodist Hospital, and were disappointed to get a popup saying that no appointments were available at that location, try somewhere else. Our first thought was that this was another one of those bait and switch affairs like the first weekend of the Minnesota state vaccine signup when 200,000 people were vying for 6,000 doses (with predictable results). But with hindsight, I suspect that the Methodist Hospital location just isn't up and running yet. Because I clicked on Regions Hospital (St. Paul) and it was wide open, starting with next Tuesday. But, it's in St. Paul. If somebody from out of town is reading this they are probably unaware of how terrifying Minneapolitans think it is to drive in St. Paul, where nothing runs straight and West is South and South is East and most of the street names are some variation on "7th Street."
Anyway, Richard was a little nervous at the idea of driving into an unknown location in St. Paul, especially after we saw the tortuous path that Google suggested he take, over and under and around the freeway interchange known to traffic reporters as Spaghetti Junction. He nervously suggested waiting until appointments were available at the hospital on our side of the river. "Are you mad???" I suggested back. "YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT. We'll find a more straightforward way to get there."
It looks like that whole Downtown St. Paul nightmare can be avoided by discreetly exiting the freeway at Dale and taking University the rest of the way. Could someone familiar with St. Paul verify that this will work? It seems too easy. And doesn't involve either West 7th Street or East 7th Street, which I didn't know was possible.
The email contained a non-transferable link that smoothly took us to his online account. Once we logged in, all the identifying information was filled in automatically, including his insurance ID. There were a few questions, with emphasis on "Are you likely to go into anaphylactic shock?" and then we were presented with a short list of large HP clinics where we could presumably book an appointment. Of course we clicked on Methodist Hospital, and were disappointed to get a popup saying that no appointments were available at that location, try somewhere else. Our first thought was that this was another one of those bait and switch affairs like the first weekend of the Minnesota state vaccine signup when 200,000 people were vying for 6,000 doses (with predictable results). But with hindsight, I suspect that the Methodist Hospital location just isn't up and running yet. Because I clicked on Regions Hospital (St. Paul) and it was wide open, starting with next Tuesday. But, it's in St. Paul. If somebody from out of town is reading this they are probably unaware of how terrifying Minneapolitans think it is to drive in St. Paul, where nothing runs straight and West is South and South is East and most of the street names are some variation on "7th Street."
Anyway, Richard was a little nervous at the idea of driving into an unknown location in St. Paul, especially after we saw the tortuous path that Google suggested he take, over and under and around the freeway interchange known to traffic reporters as Spaghetti Junction. He nervously suggested waiting until appointments were available at the hospital on our side of the river. "Are you mad???" I suggested back. "YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT. We'll find a more straightforward way to get there."
It looks like that whole Downtown St. Paul nightmare can be avoided by discreetly exiting the freeway at Dale and taking University the rest of the way. Could someone familiar with St. Paul verify that this will work? It seems too easy. And doesn't involve either West 7th Street or East 7th Street, which I didn't know was possible.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-06 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-06 06:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-06 07:36 pm (UTC)K.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-06 10:53 pm (UTC)No suggestion on St. Paul driving; maybe you could ask
no subject
Date: 2021-02-09 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-10 12:07 am (UTC)