SPOKANE, Wash. – Thousands in Washington have had luck securing an appointment and at least one round of the vaccine, but for many, the process has been stressful.
Last Tuesday, KHQ told you the story of one 85-year-old man who said he just wanted to be able to leave his home again without fear.
“It’s the only hope that I have,” Ron said of the vaccine. “I don’t have any other hope. At my age, 85, I’m no spring chicken.”
We provided Ron with the best phone numbers to call to try to secure an appointment at the Spokane Arena. Monday afternoon, he called to say he not only got through but had just returned home from receiving his first dose.
“It went very rapidly,” he said.
Ron was able to get through on the phone, but we know thousands of others have not been as lucky. Viewer Tamara Lewis says she’s put all her energy into trying to get in with no results.
“I’m a survivor of kidney cancer, but I lost my kidney,” she said. “The other one isn’t doing well. I’m headed to dialysis. If I get COVID…it’s deadly.”
Tamara and her husband, who is also her caregiver have been aggressively trying to get their vaccines. Last week, she thought she got them in.
“They said your appointment is at 12:40 and his is 12:41, and this is what you need,” Tamara said. “We had everything ready to go. We went down there.”
Only to be told their appointment could not be found.
“They said I was not on the list,” she said.
She still isn’t sure what lead to that glitch. The only thing she is certain of is the vaccine is the only thing that can give her any peace right now.
“It would give me life… I could go out and live my life,” she said.
The couple says they will continue to try to get into the Chas clinic at the Spokane Arena, but if they don’t, some relief may come next week.
The federal government is set to ship 1 million doses to pharmacies throughout our country. As details get sorted out of what we could see here locally, we’ll share that with you, right away.
