ODESSA, Texas — Thousands of people have made their way through the mass vaccination sites in our area. Starting February 15, those people will be able to start getting their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
If you received your first dose at Ratliff Stadium, you have to make an appointment for the booster shot. Making that appointment proved to be a frustrating experience for a lot of people including Sharon Hobbs who called 162 times and still didn't get an appointment.
"It was not a good experience," Hobbs said.
She spent all afternoon trying to make her appointment and got through twice only to be put on hold and eventually hung upon.
"I got through twice, was on hold for about 20 minutes each time, and got hung upon. Then I sent a text to my sister because we take care of our mother who is elderly, she’s 92, and she had gotten through three times and one time she was on hold for 32 minutes and got hung up on," Hobbs said.
Hobbs isn't alone. Medical Center Hospital said that they've been inundated with callers trying to make an appointment. Right now, they're preaching patience.
"Lots of people are getting the busy signal and our automated message. We’re asking people to be patient. We have several people answering the phone lines, and of course, as you can imagine just like the first day of the vaccine through the drive-through, there’s a ton of people calling at this time trying to get set their booster appointments," Trevor Tankersley, MCH director of public relations said.
As the saying goes, patience is a virtue, but Hobbs calls it something else.
"I don’t know if they handled it very well or not. It’s very aggravating to a degree when you’re trying to get the second booster and you’re trying to be safe and everything and do what’s right and you can’t get through," Hobbs said.