How 15 California Residents Make Vaccine Appointments

To help you book an appointment if you are newly eligible, our readers have asked to share their experiences with securing slots to give tips to others navigating through a confusing and overwhelming system.

In their stories, we noticed some trends. The one is that some people are just lucky and are in the right place at the right time or reporting to a vaccination site when suddenly there is an attack on appointments available.

Another major trend we have noticed is that it can take time, days and hours to find an appointment online. Many readers have told us that the VaccinateCA website, run by a group of volunteers who link hospitals and pharmacies for vaccine availability, is an excellent resource for finding appointments. Another great resource: the Bay Area Vaccine Bot at @CovidVaccineBA on Twitter posting real-time updates on vaccine availability.

Below we share anecdotes about how readers found appointments. Answers were in some cases summarized and edited for clarity.

Here’s how SFGATE readers found vaccine appointments

“On Wednesday, March 17, my former Livermore colleague texted me that vaccine appointments were available at the CVS in Hanford. I quickly went to the CVS website and saw that most places were completely full except Hanford. When I browsed the CVS website, not only did I find many open appointments, I was able to schedule the same time as my friend on March 21. CVS also automatically scheduled the 2nd appointments exactly three weeks from the first appointment.During our 2nd visit on April 11, they noted that many appointments are still open.

“Both returns, Montara to Hanford via Livermore, yielded 952 miles. We were both fortunate to have these appointments and grateful to the nurses and staff at the CVS at 574 W. Lacey Blvd., Hanford.” —Alan Joss, Montara

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“I noticed in the paper that Contra Costa County is opening up vaccine reporting to anyone over the age of 50 living or working in the country. I work at the old Ford Factory on Harbor Way South. The day of the announcement, I went to the County website to sign up but could not do so as I did not fall into any of the categories, it appears the website was updated to allow more than 50 signups the next day, it was Tuesday, March 24th. On Thursday evening, March 26, I received a text with a link to the sign-up website, I selected a few places near my workplace and scheduled an appointment at one of them, I received the first survey by Pfizer on April 1st. Waiting during the observation period, I received a text with my second appointment, scheduled for April 26. ‘- David Taylor

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‘I just started looking yesterday [4/1] as I assumed, our doctor at UCSF would let us know when our turn would come. But a friend told me it was every man (or woman) for himself during this pandemic, so mother-in-law told me to go to VaccinateCA, which I did. It showed a list of places to go, but they were fully booked. However, I flipped through the yard and San Francisco State University came up and they arranged the vaccine for my husband (55) and me (59). Honestly, I felt a little guilty because I kept hearing that people were having trouble making appointments and that we got in right away. ‘- Mallory Graf

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“I received my second COVID vaccine admission on January 11 by participating in the AstraZeneca trial conducted at SF General Hospital. I was in the hospital on a follow-up appointment after a cataract operation and happened to see a sign “I’m 77, diabetic, high blood pressure, a major suspect.” – Mike Kemper

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“Around 10:30 this morning (not 2:00, not 3:17, but in the middle of the morning), I optimistically searched for ‘COVID vaccine Santa Clara County’ with ‘the search engine whose name we dare ‘dare not talk,’ and managed to make appointments for my wife and me (we are now only eligible) who get comfortable in the same place, near our house and ‘back-to-back’ – If we are vaccinated without a hiccup, we will immediately buy lottery tickets. ‘- Tony S., San Jose

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“I think it’s pure luck. I’m 50 years old and live in Contra Costa County, Walnut Creek to be exact. I went to the MyTurn website on April 2 at 6:30 pm and the appointment was at 4:20 pm Sunday, April 4th, at the Oakland BART Coliseum yard.By the way, give minutes later the appointment slots were completely gone.There is really no special skill involved, just try at different times, I got it at 1:00, 11: 00:00 15:00 … during lunch at work, between watching episodes on Netflix The process is no different from looking for work (something I did a lot last year), you have to persevere and not get discouraged . ‘- Tom Lim

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“Let your readers know that scheduling an appointment at MyTurn.CA.gov can be a little tricky. When I’re looking for an appointment, I’ll browse until September and there’s nothing available. Then I scroll back to April. and the information has been downloaded. It seems like the pages need time to load. I was then able to schedule two appointments for the next day. ‘- Sylvia Hays

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“After constantly refreshing what looked like all the vaccination sites, I accidentally saw a timely tweet last night by @CovidVaccineBA that the Oakland Coliseum had appointments for the Johnson & Johnson shot. I jumped on it and booked my appointment for this Sunday through MyTurn.CA.gov. ‘- Denise Iwamoto

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“I’m really happy. I’m 73 and live in Richmond. In early January, I signed up for a notice on Contra Costa’s COVID website. In mid – January, I received an email because I’m was over 65. could make an appointment through My Chart.I made an appointment for January 28 in Richmond’s City Auditorium.About a week before my appointment the country returned to 75-plus, but overall appointments that I got my first shot on Jan. 28 (Pfizer) and then my second shot on February 19. The province was very organized and it was easy to get an appointment online. Meanwhile, Sutter Health, of which I have a member, either no appointments were made or 95,000 existing appointments were canceled .. Contra Costa County is now reported to have surplus vaccine – Karen Kempler

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I am retired and live in Healdsburg. I am 64 years old and have no serious underlying health conditions, and I did not qualify until April 1 when the state opened vaccinations for people 50 years and older. I sent my Kaiser Permanent account and tried to book an appointment. No luck anywhere near the house. The nearest Kaiser location with availability was in South Sacramento, more than two hours drive one way. Kaiser also requires you to return to the same place for the second dose. Because I was a retired IT man, I sat in my easy chair with my laptop for a few hours, refreshing the screen in hopes of a cancellation. I found one for three weeks in Santa Rosa. I went on Nextdoor and posted my experience. I tried the MyTurn web portal. This is a complete joke. Using my zip code, two vaccination sites with openings emerge. Both were in Lake County and both required Lake County accommodation. One of my neighbors on Nextdoor posted that there were places available at a certain link. It’s here in town at Healdsburg High School run by Alliance. I secured an appointment for next Tuesday. At the moment there are still appointments available. It is word of mouth and good luck setting up a vaccination. “- Dana Hom

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“I’m younger than 65 and received a call from the Veterans Affairs six weeks ago to plan my COVID vaccine. I think, or maybe I was called, because I’m the only caregiver of an elderly parent and I had prior I did not want to book an appointment because I was not 65 or older, so their call surprised me. Anyway, they offered an appointment two days later. “- A. Farley

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“It took me half a day to find an appointment. I started at 4:00 and found one at 1:00. There were no appointments available in San Francisco. All I did was to refresh, watch, refresh, watch.I had VaccineFinder, MyTurn, Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, Medical Centers, UCSF and Kaiser – and hit the jackpot with Sutter Health.It was so frustrating, but I felt urgent. “I knew it would be harder if they were open to everyone. I had to drive to Great America Parkway, but it was worth it. Sutter was very organized and fast. There was even parking.” – Tracy Silva

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” A neighbor who is a caterer for yoga teachers told me he just walked up to SF General and stood in line. After realizing I was eligible, I walked in and talked to a nurse. ‘ If you come early, there is a queue, but around 11 o’clock it thins, “the nurse told me. Of course there was no queue the next day at 11 o’clock and I was in and out within half an hour. many places that run (here’s a link to some in San Francisco) and it’s much easier than clicking refresh at 3am or signing up to find an appointment.Sometimes the easiest solution is not the most obvious solution – by clicking hours, you can make an appointment from your couch, but just showing up ensures you a place in the queue.Many seniors do not have the internet, so it is ideal for them. ‘- Andrew Lawrence

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“We got an appointment for my wife, 64 years old, at Kaiser via their website around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night. The nearest place was 30 miles and the first time there were eight days from there. I’m 71 and already have a turned; the ride was twice two miles from the 45-mile direction. By the way, I copied by vaccination card, reduced it to 80%, and then laminated the copy and cut it down to the exact size of my driver’s license to carry in my wallet. “Originally with other important papers. I asked some people if they would like to see my Fauci card. Nobody’s interested. I’ll show it anyway.” – Tom Ruppel, Dixon

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“I’m a USMC veteran, OIF / OEF, and I’m a conservator for my little brother who has Down Syndrome. I’m lucky to have a lot of resources, including the Veterans Affairs to help me in my search for ‘ an appointment with the vaccination of COVID-19. But like most in the Bay, I also called every number and sent my email address from more than seven different agencies, some of which are also federal, and I was stoned every time. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after almost two weeks after calling everyone and emailing, I finally took a chance, contacted our basic healthcare provider Kaiser, and went to their website at KP.org. Yesterday around 4:30 pm I called the 800 number and was put on. I suspended exactly 57 minutes and 43 seconds. I know this because I reached my patience and let my fiancé know that I would only have a few more minutes wait, and it made exactly one hour stop time.Then I will hang up.But just when I give up, I am greeted deu r an agent and she could take me and my brother for vaccinations. But the catch was that they were nowhere near home, and also a kind of inconvenience for most social family vacations, as our appointments were planned for Sunday, Easter, in Stockton. “- Matt Katovich