An 84-year-old Villager will be heading out Monday morning to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine after her family across the country united to go online and score her an appointment.
Dolores Cramer of the Village of Amelia has been living an isolated life for nearly a year due to the Coronavirus. She goes to the grocery store, the doctor and makes a trip to Target “once in a while.” She does not walk or engage in much outdoor activity due to neuropathy. Cramer and her husband moved to The Villages in 2009. He died in 2015.
Her daughter, Lori Hahm of Illinois, said the registration process stacked the deck against her mother. She said the system favors younger Villagers who are tech savvy and don’t share her mother’s physical limitations.
“Yes, you can get it if you have access to a laptop or iPhone and know how to use them, are willing to camp in your car overnight or stand in line for seven hours. It’s completely ridiculous that your most elderly and vulnerable citizens in Florida who live alone and don’t drive long distances will go unvaccinated and meanwhile all of the 65-year-olds will be out partying in The Villages after having gotten the vaccine quickly and being first in line,” said Hahm, a retired kindergarten teacher.
Cramer has five children – two in Illinois, one in Texas, one in Atlanta and a daughter who teaches in Orlando.
When the Sumter County Health Department’s online registration opened at 8 a.m. Sunday with thousands competing for 340 doses of the vaccine, Cramer’s family members had limbered up and were ready to pounce on their digital devices.
Cramer’s son-in-law in Texas secured the appointment for the vaccine at the Wildwood Community Center.
“I’ve got my ticket and I will be there in the morning,” Cramer said.
While her family is breathing a sigh of relief, there is not enough vaccine to satisfy the surging demand.
Joanne Howard of the Village of Santo Domingo was also online at 8 a.m. Sunday, hopeful of landing a vaccine appointment.
“I was put in a queue for an appointment. That was as far as I know got before I was notified that all spots were filled. This was at 8:05. Hopefully, I will get another chance to get a vaccine shot sometime in the near future before I get the virus,” she said.
