SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Many folks across the region are struggling to find coronavirus vaccine appointments anywhere but it's been particularly difficult for people that don't have access to a computer, let alone know how to use one.
65-year-old Ricardo Rodrigues first reached out to ABC10 by texting in asking, "How do we get a vaccine shot when we need an appointment and don't know how to use a computer to make an appointment?"
"I'm old school," he said. "I don't know how to use the internet!"
ABC10 connected him with a 'vaccine angel' Dr. Beatrice Tetteh, working to help book appointments for people in South Sacramento, or at the very least, point people in the right direction.
She said, for his specific situation, all he needed to do is call his local primary care provider, something he didn't even know was an option.
"I think for me, I feel good knowing I was able to help them and that also, he said he hadn't ever thought about calling them. I thought, ok, we're just doing simple fixes that who knows how long this has been bothering him for," Dr. Beatrice Tetteh, owner of Tetteh Pediatric Health said.
Rodrigues called his doctor's office in Stockton right away, they got him an appointment and he got his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday.
"I feel like a brand new automobile, anybody that owns a new car, that's how I feel!" Rodrigues said. "I put in a new motor and zoomed down the street!"
Dr. Tetteh says for people in Ricardo's situation, who don't have a computer or internet access, here are four options to get vaccine appointments instead:
- Call your doctor's office if you need help booking an appointment.
- Call a family member or friend to see if they can help book one for you.
- Call the number 2-1-1. Alternatives to 2-1-1 for the southern parts of Sacramento County at 844-547-1464 and 916-498-1000.
- Look out for community-based pop-up clinics in your neighborhood that might be accepting walk-ups.
