BRYAN, Texas — There are many questions surrounding the coronavirus vaccine. Sometimes it is hard to get answers and access. United Way of the Brazos Valley is working to not only answer questions but also help schedule appointments for those qualified.
United Way of the Brazos Valley has a vaccine hub hotline and email inbox to help people schedule their appointments and answer questions they might have about their vaccines.
People can call 979-703-1545 from 9 am - 3:30 pm Monday through Friday.
“We will simply walk them through the process. If they are eligible and qualified, we will go ahead and give them that appointment, to what is available. If not, we will ask them to call back when we know the appointment is up and open again," said United Way Community Impact vice president Peggi Goss.
Goss said most emails and calls they have been receiving are people wondering when their second dose will be scheduled.
“They get an email automatically scheduling them, and then those people need to reschedule so they’re either emailing the inbox or they’re calling. Some people are worried they’re not going to get the emails that they’re emailing before the email comes out. No problem, they can either email us or they can call us to confirm their second dose appointments, but again it’s not going to come out 25- 30 days after the first dose is administered," said Goss.
United Way tries to adapt to whatever the current needs of the community are. The organization believes people need better communication more than ever to get correct information on the vaccine.
“Initially we were only offering vaccines to those 65 and older, now we’re opening up to a wider range of people, so to people who are not English speakers, they’re having trouble sometimes to [understanding] what’s happening because it changes by the minute, sometimes by the day, so for them to be able to call us and get information, it puts them a lot better at ease. It makes them feel better about the whole thing,” said United Way COVID vaccine coordinator specialist Josiah Outerbridge.
By providing phone calls, United Way wants to reach areas of the Brazos Valley that may not have access to the internet or struggle with getting online.
“A lot of individuals, they are maybe elderly or they don’t have access to any type of internet or any type of computers," said Outerbridge."For them to be able to call us and get questions answered it makes them feel very comfortable."
United Way can help people schedule a vaccine appointment without an email address.
