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Elderly couple can’t book COVID-19 vaccine appts.

Lifestyle

CHICAGO (WLS) — An 89-year-old woman says she and her husband are still trying to secure an appointment get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Retrieving garbage cans from the end of their driveway is the only time Jimmy and Lova Andros risk leaving their home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jimmy is 92 years old, and Lova is 89.

“I have chronic asthma and my husband had surgery 5 months ago,” Lova Andros said.

SEE ALSO | Illinois COVID vaccine map shows how many residents vaccinated by county

After almost of year of staying home, the north suburban couple are anxious to get the vaccine. But one month after Illinois began vaccinating people older than 65, the Andros’ have had zero luck.

“We feel like we are the cracks in society,” Andros said. “If we were in a nursing home or retirement home we would have gotten the shots by now.”

Like so many older people, the Andros’ are relying on their kids to navigate what has been an incredibly frustrating process to find an open appointment.

Armed with multiple devices, daughter Ann Rosen has tried multiple websites: CVS, Mariano’s, Jewel, Zoc Doc, and North Shore Health Care. And that’s only half of them. Rosen’s husband and out-of-town sister try everyday day, too.

“A number of people have said, why don’t you try at 6 a.m.? I’ve tried at 6 a.m. Why don’t you try at midnight? I’ve tried at midnight, I’ve never seen one opening. It’s full,” she said.

For weeks, state and local officials have blamed the sluggish rollout and the lack of open appointments on the federal government for not allocating enough doses.

SEE ALSO | United Center to host federal mass vaccination site

Governor JB Pritzker said the United Center mass vaccination site set to open March 10 will give people older than 65 the first appointments, but they have to be scheduled on line through Zoc Doc – the same site Rosen and her family have tried every day.

For now, it’s another day of waiting at home for Jimmy and Lova Andros.

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