As Orange County COVID-19 vaccinations surpass 264,000, locals provide tips on finding, booking appointments

Seniors line up to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.

By Sara CardineStaff Writer

Feb. 1, 2021 6:26 PM PT

If booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments in Orange County could be likened to getting concert tickets to a sold-out show, Laguna Beach resident Teri Pfeffer Perlstein would kind of be a one-woman StubHub.

A recent retiree with a background in software implementation, Pfeffer Perlstein knows her way around tech. So, when officials made the Jan. 13 announcement eligible residents could sign up on the Smartphone app Othena to book an appointment, she was on board.

Othena was initially unavailable to Android users, so a friend used an iPhone to help her book a vaccination in Huntington Beach. She, in turn, has helped others by regularly checking for appointment openings and sending out word when slots become free.

The 66-year-old got her first-round shot on Jan. 16 and has a second scheduled for mid-February.

“I haven’t even been to a supermarket since March, so you can’t imagine how excited I am to be getting my second [vaccination],” Pfeffer Perlstein said.

But she knows for many, the process hasn’t gone so smoothly.

Laguna Beach resident Teri Pfeffer Perlstein

To further help those seeking help navigating through Othena, or who may have questions about qualifying for a COVID-19 vaccination, Pfeffer Perlstein started the Facebook Group “VaxMe OC” to serve as an unofficial clearinghouse of county-specific information.

Created on Jan. 17, the group already has more than 2,200 members and is moderated by Pfeffer Perlstein and a handful of locals who curate information and keep conversations on track and away from politics, opinion and arguments. They also post a daily update of where appointment openings may be found.

A Frequently Asked Questions document posted to the site provides a rough roadmap through Orange County vaccinations and attempts to address inquiries about qualifying for a COVID-19 vaccine, while demystifying the sometimes-opaque Othena app process.

“I’m very strict about what you can post — my moderators say I’m too strict,” Pfeffer Perlstein said. “Once a question has been answered, I turn off comments.”

She guesses hundreds of Orange County residents have obtained first-round vaccines with the group’s assistance, all done on a volunteer basis.

But while county officials seem to be working out some of the early bugs that plagued Othena users, there’s still a lot of work to be done to reach out to groups unable to access appointments.

“We need outreach for people who either don’t have the technology or are technologically challenged or too physically challenged to take part in this,” Pfeffer Perlstein said. “The gap is huge.”

Figures provided by the Orange County Health Care agency, reflecting vaccine activity through Jan. 31, indicate so far 264,703 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed, including 86,806 second-round vaccinations.

An additional 86,687 new doses have been given since figures were reported Jan. 25. Among those inoculated so far, about 44% are aged 65 and older.

Meanwhile, new coronavirus infections and COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to decline, as county health officials Tuesday recorded 768 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the cumulative case count to 234,162.

Area hospitals reported treating 1,330 residents for COVID-19, 28% of whom — or 370 individuals — were being cared for in intensive care units, the agency reported. That shift accounted for an 9.9% decrease in the three-day average of hospitalizations countywide.

But while new infections ebb, the fatality rate continues to rise. On Tuesday, 53 more COVID-19 deaths were recorded, pushing total deaths so far to 3,162.

Orange County is prioritizing vaccinations for residents over 65, as the virus proves deadliest for the county’s aging population. Of the 458 deaths recorded since last Monday, 357 have occurred among residents 65 and older, with people over 85 accounting for 145 deaths.

Another 8,625 tests were reported Tuesday, bringing the cumulative number to 2,701,938 and accounting for a seven-day average testing positivity rate of 10.9%, down from 12.9% last Tuesday.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County: