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Letter: As our experience shows, the vaccine roll out in Utah is a fiasco

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) "I didn't even feel it," said VA health technician Diane Perkins, who received the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is one of 113 VA Medical Centers across the country to receive the first limited supply of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. As frontline health care workers in Utah hospitals continue to get vaccinations this week, including employees at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dec. 23, 2020, those who work at long-term care facilities are scheduled to get their first doses Monday.

My wife and I are both over 70 years old and she is compromised because of lung cancer. We have tried to enter the “lottery for life” game show at the Utah County Health Department now several times and never can get an appointment for the COVID vaccine shot.

The first time we tried we logged on exactly at the designated time and saw the place to sign up for an appointment. We clicked on it in 3 seconds. Surprise -- all slots were taken.

The news stations said that all slots were filled in Utah County within five minutes. Not true. All slots were filled within five seconds!

We tried again at 7:00 p.m. as the Utah County Health Department notice said, with five millennials ready to help, but the place to sign up never appeared. Even though we know everyone over 70 is scrambling to get these life saving shots, it’s still very frustrating.

This process is like trying to get tickets for a very popular concert, but this is a possible life or death situation! The vaccine roll out in Utah is a fiasco. There’s got to be a better way.

Larry and Margie Beaudin, Saratoga Springs

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