Pinellas Hopeful That New Vaccine Scheduling Process Will Be Less Frustrating

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — After weeks of complaints from frustrated senior citizens, Pinellas County officials announced an improved process for booking vaccine appointments for residents age 65 and over.

The process will no longer involve open calls to all users to register at the same day and time. Instead, smaller groups will be directly notified when doses of vaccine are available.

Residents 65 and older who have created accounts through the CDR Health Pro Patient Portal should frequently monitor their text messages and/or emails, whichever they provided in the CDR Health portal, to see if they have received a direct notification. The notification will include instructions for scheduling their vaccination.

For now, people will be contacted in the order in which they signed up.

Be sure to monitor texts or emails for a notice from CDR Health Pro. Only one notification will be provided. Reminders will not be sent.

Then log in, enter the requested information and book first and second dose appointments. Users will have 48 hours to complete the booking.

Make sure you show up for your appointment. Due to limited supply and high demand, rescheduling is not available.

There are approximately 60,000 residents preregistered in the system who have not yet been able to schedule an appointment for a vaccine.

Residents who have not registered with CDR Health Pro should preregister on the website or call 844-770-8548 to create an account or get help. When registering, opt in to both email and text alerts when possible. People without access to a computer or cell phone are encouraged to have a friend or family member preregister them and monitor for the notification.

To date, more than 94,000 Pinellas County residents have received at least their first dose of the vaccine, around 9.5 percent of the county’s population.

For more information on local vaccine distribution and availability updates, visit the Pinellas County coronavirus website.