PHOENIX — “I want it really badly and I just can’t get it,” said 80-year-old Doug Scott. Scott and hundreds of other Maricopa County residents who are medically homebound, continue to wait on the coronavirus vaccine.
Following months of delays, the county began vaccinating folks who are homebound on March 29. But just weeks after getting started, the pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine halted the effort.
“The idea that I can just sit here and have someone come to my house and unintentionally give me a virus I could have avoided with just a simple inoculation before that, that just bothers me,” said Scott.
He’s bothered because he signed up two weeks ago to get a vaccine, but didn’t hear anything from the county for over a week. He then found out after calling them that he was bumped off the list because his zip code was incorrect on his online form, despite health officials having the correct phone number and street address.
“So, I’m waiting for a lifesaving vaccine, and I get bumped off because they changed two numbers on my zip code, so I got a little frustrated by that,” said Scott.
Unfortunately, the frustration didn’t end there. He was also told they could only bring him a shot when more people requested it near his Queen Creek home.
“The problem is you’re all by yourself down there in southeast county and we need more people to justify sending a nurse down there, but they haven't promoted this enough and people don't know about it,” said Scott.
In a statement, Maricopa County Health Officials say:
“Any appointments that have been put on hold will be rescheduled as soon as guidelines for the use of Janssen vaccine are available.” Adding, "MCDPH works with state and local health partners to coordinate and schedule them to receive the vaccine in home, regardless of how many individuals in the area need in-home vaccination.”
At the moment, more than 450 people including Scott now wait to see when their time will come and if the county will honor their words.
“Get this program working because we need it, desperately need it," said Scott.
