SLO County to roll out new lottery for coronavirus vaccines. Here’s how it works
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is rolling out a new coronavirus vaccination registration system.
For several months, thousands of people have rushed to get appointments for COVID-19 vaccines — only to be turned away when schedules fill up fast.
As next week, the county will switch to a lottery-based system that requires people to register for appointments only once.
“We know that the demand our system and available vaccine are woefully disparate,” county Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said at a Wednesday news briefing. “There’s not nearly enough opportunities for people to make appointments among those who want to so we want to address this in a fair and equitable and logistically feasible manner.”
The San Luis Obispo County Vaccine Task Force considered the switch to a lottery-based system a few weeks ago, but decided to wait until the county implemented California’s My Turn statewide registration system.
However, San Luis Obispo County recently learned that implementation is still at least six to eight weeks away.
“Thus we feel we need to do something now locally to deal with improving our appointment system,” Borenstein said.
How COVID-19 vaccine lottery system works
Here’s how San Luis Obispo County’s new lottery-based system will work.
People who are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines — health care workers, long-term care facility residents and employees and people age 65 and older — will register online at RecoverSLO.org.
The county will then electronically and randomly select a portion of those registered to fill appointment slots that week.
The number pulled each week will depend on the appointments and vaccine allocation made available to the county.
Borenstein said people who register will be asked if they have a preferred general time and day to receive the vaccine.
Anyone who cannot make the appointment time they are given will be asked to cancel their appointment so it may go to someone else.
Unlike the current online registration system, people will only need to register for COVID-19 vaccines once.
If they are not selected the week they registered, they will automatically be put into the following week’s pool and so on until they receive vaccination appointments.
“We will have X number of first appointments available, whether you register the minute before we actually run the numbers if you will, or you registered three weeks ago, you will be available to be pulled by random electronically to get an appointment,” Borenstein said.
This system will only apply to those currently eligible within the county to receive first doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
When it is time for a person to receive a second dose of the vaccine, they will be notified by the Public Health Department if they received their first dose from the county. The lottery system will not be applied to those in need of a second dose.
SLO County works on plans to vaccinate teachers, farm workers
The county is working to develop plans to vaccinate others in the Tier 1B group, including childcare workers, teachers, food and agriculture workers and emergency service workers.
According to Borenstein, as of March 1, the county will follow Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate that 10% of all vaccination allocations are to be set aside for childcare workers and education employees working with students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The county is also looking toward setting aside specific times for farm workers to be vaccinated in two to three weeks.
Additionally, Borenstein said San Luis Obispo County is looking at ways to vaccinate those in law enforcement and higher education in the coming weeks.
“When we factor in emergency services, the entirety of education and childcare, which includes higher education, and the entirety of food and agriculture, as a reminder we’re talking about 70,000 people,” Borenstein said. “We didn’t want to open the doors far and wide while we are still working hard to get 65 year old and older vaccinated.”
Borenstein said vaccination appointments that open Thursday at 9 a.m. for the upcoming week will still be made in the first-come-first-serve fashion.
Where to get a COVID-19 test and schedule an appointment
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is urging anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, or those who have come into contact with someone with the virus, to get tested.
Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics throughout San Luis Obispo County. To make an appointment, visit emergencySLO.org/testing; you can register by phone at 888-634-1123.
As of Wednesday, the county Public Health Department is administering coronavirus vaccines to healthcare workers, long term care facility residents and employees and people age 65 and up by appointment only.
To schedule an appointment visit RecoverSLO.org or call 805-543-2444.
Appointment schedules will be announced on weekdays around 9 a.m. as appointments become available on RecoverSLO.org and via county email alerts.
To sign up for email alerts visit EmergencySLO.org/en/newsletter.aspx.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 6:03 PM.
