| Detroit Free Press
COVID vaccine: can you still be contagious?
Vaccinologist Dr Greg Poland discusses what it is like after your first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Staff Video, USA TODAY
So many people flooded the Beaumont Health electronic myBeaumontChart system Friday morning, the website crashed, spokesman Bob Ortlieb told the Free Press.
It went off at about 9:15 a.m. under a rush of patients logging on to the patient portal to sign up for COVID-19 vaccines. He said the IT department of the health system is restoring connectivity but has not had an update on when the system would be up and running again.
“We are encouraged by the overwhelming response to Beaumont’s recent announcement of its plans to offer residents 65 and older COVID-19 vaccinations,” the Southfield-based hospital system said in a statement. “Our IT team is aware of connectivity issues with myBeaumontChart, and they work diligently to address them.
“In the meantime, we appreciate people’s patience and will post regular updates on beaumont.org/covid-vaccine. Please note: appointments to get a COVID vaccination are required. Beaumont does not accept entries for scheduling or vaccinations. “Due to the overwhelming demand, we are currently unable to handle telephone inquiries, so we are asking people to use our website for the most up-to-date information.”
Beaumont and several other hospitals in southeastern Michigan announced late Thursday that they will vaccinate their patients age 65 and older, with vaccination appointments starting Monday.
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Those who want to plan a Beaumont vaccine should follow these steps:
- Create a myBeaumontChart account or sign in to your existing account
- Confirm that your current email address is listed in your account.
- Then find a message in your personal email from [email protected]. It will arrive as soon as you are able to plan your vaccination.
- When you receive the email, open the message and click on the link to plan your vaccination.
If you do not have an active personal myBeaumontChart account, the healthcare system is appealing to people to create a free personal account on myBeaumontChart.com.
With such a huge demand for vaccines and scarce resources, dr. Jeffrey S Fischgrund, a spinal surgeon and head of clinical services for Beaumont Health’s eight hospitals, said Beaumont could not operate a telephone line.
“We can not set up a call line for people to call in for questions,” Fischgrund said. “The best we can do now is through electronic medical records. And as we move forward, we’ll have to figure out how we can reach people who just are not technologically advanced enough to make it work.”
He asked people to try to be patient and understand that this process will take time.
“The vaccine is not the end of the pandemic,” Fischgrund said. “We still have to wear masks, we still have the social distance.
“If you are offered the vaccine, please take the vaccines, and I want to be blunt with people if they question it. I tell them you have two options: you can get the vaccine, or you can get COVID. And that is really what it comes down to. ‘
Contact Kristen Shamus: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.