211 For Eastern Oklahoma Handling Surge Of COVID-19 Vaccine Calls

More than 350,000 Oklahomans have registered to receive the COVID-19 vaccine while 21,000 have scheduled an appointment.

The State Health Department is encouraging people to call 2-1-1 for help and the group that operates that number, the Community Service Council, says nearly 10,000 people called on Friday alone. Compare that to the 600 calls they received before the pandemic and 2,000 when the pandemic first started in March.

Executive Director of 2-1-1 Eastern Oklahoma, Ashlie Casey, says they help Oklahomans in 37 counties with issues like housing, food, or rent assistance referrals. She says they've been handling more calls as Oklahomans try to sign up to get a vaccine. Casey says they're working to make sure that everyone's questions answered as quickly as possible.

"The amount of information that's coming in, and the frequency of information that's coming in, is where we're trying to fine-tune our processes. But, we've never done this before, we've never issued a statewide vaccine like this and been apart of it, so we're trying to respond as best we can, but it is fluid, said Casey.

OSDH wants to remind everyone that appointment availability depends on vaccine supply and that new appointments are added as vaccine supply allows.