Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Vaccine Demand Forces Mendocino County to Expand Call Center
Mendocino County, California recently held a vaccination event at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds for Phase 1a, 1b and Tier 1 vaccine candidates. Although the event was generally successful, administrators claimed that roughly 1,200 public citizens arrived, despite lack of approval for the vaccine. Thankfully, the supply was sufficient enough to meet the surprise demand at the Fairgrounds, but Mendocino County is now revving up call center capabilities to prepare for an exponentially higher amount of call volume that is being predicted after last week's event.
Dr. Andrew Coren, Mendocino County Public Health Officer, announced the county has vaccinated 5,970 individuals, which does not include vaccinations from hospitals, pharmacies or Indian Health Centers, all of which receive their own supply.
“This translates to almost 10 percent of the county’s population over 18 years of age. We are very proud that we have utilized every vaccine we’ve received during the week we received it.” Coren stated, “The demand for vaccines far exceeds the supply we are able to access from the state at this time. We fully understand this causes frustration and congestion, and we ask for your patience,”
To address the rising number of calls, additional staff have been added to the call center team, along with contractors to decrease response time. Mendocino County has also created a webpage and social media accounts to provide updates and relevant information at 5:00pm every friday.
“We’d like to encourage the public to visit our web page or social media pages, so that those in outlying areas and folks who don’t use the internet can reach someone through the call center.” said Vaccine Project Manager Adrienne Thompson.
To learn more, visit the county’s COVID19 webpage, Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) and Instagram accounts. The call center is staffed from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at (707) 472-2759.
Edited by Maurice Nagle