Editorial: Oahu kupuna can call 211 for vaccination help

At long last, here’s good news for Oahu kupuna who need help making a COVID-19 vaccination appointment: There’s a phone number to call, and it’s 211.

Thanks to a coordinated effort among the state, city, Aloha United Way and the St. Francis Healthcare System, a new call center with trained specialists is now taking calls to help seniors navigate the online vaccination registration process — as well as help eligible kupuna arrange for transportation to a vaccination provider.

Because the elderly are among those most vulnerable to COVID, residents age 75-plus were put first in line as soon as Hawaii’s vaccination program launched in mid-December, along with health-care providers and other front-line workers. Since then, the age threshold for the precious but limited weekly allotments has been dropping — ages 60-plus become eligible on Monday — and more essential workers and residents with chronic, high-risk medical conditions have been added.

Despite the vaccination head start, however, concerns came from kupuna who were unable for various reasons to secure vaccination appointments. Most of the registration is being handled online to briskly move the complicated mass rollout — but that creates an obstacle for kupuna unfamiliar with computers who are not part of a group living facility or long-term care.

Out of 568,375-plus doses administered as of Thursday, only half have gone to those age 60 or older, with just 24% of Hawaii’s over-60 population receiving at least one shot. (Those numbers don’t include federal pharmacy programs for long-term care homes.)

AARP Hawaii, after conducting an online kupuna questionnaire on the state’s vaccination program earlier this month, noted: “The people who have not gotten vaccinated may not be able to use a computer or are hard to reach — perhaps those with language disparities, who are isolated and may be homebound. This suggests the state needs to do more to reach those people who do not have computers so that we can address disparities.”

The new 211 phone number precisely answers that call, with language translation available. A collaboration between the state Executive Office on Aging, the city Elderly Affairs Division, AUW’s 2-1-1 and St. Francis Healthcare, this could be a stellar example of a public-private partnership, if successful. Let’s hope that it is.