People try to jump the vaccine line in Riverside County, while others wait to get appointments

Riverside County is working to clear up confusion when it comes to booking appointments for the vaccine. 

News Channel 3’s Dani Romero got answers to some of those concerns. 

Alicia Cruz shared with us her struggle to book her first vaccine appointment.

“It would do different things and when I got to the end it would say no appointments," said Cruz.

But she finally got one. Now she’s waiting for the county to setup her second dose appointment and that has been equally frustrating 

“I am still getting no notifications," said Cruz. "I did an email correction just in case my email was wrong and I have sent in 5 to 6 times and I get no response.” 

County Health officials explain one of the delays could be from an inaccurate email on file. 

“We know who needs the second dose and if it hasn't been received by that member of the public, by way of email, we're using the old school way of calling them," said John Welsh, Riverside County Public Information Officer.

The county does advise checking your "spam" folder too. We know keeping your appointment is crucial as the county deals with not enough shots.

But what about those that are saving their spot at multiple vaccination sites? 

“We know that people are booking appointments and they're not in that age tier," said Welsh. "If people are booking appointments over here and over here and in the county, we wouldn't really know if they're essentially double or triple booking."

We asked the county if there is going to be an update to the system to not allow people that are not eligible to book their appointment.

“If somebody is just not going to pay attention to the parameters that we're establishing we can't take that appointment out of the system because they're saying, yeah, I qualify," said Welsh.  

Remember the county does have a screening process before every appointment. They also want residents who are eligible to sign up while being respectful to others.  

“When people are maybe double and triple booking it at other locations, they are taking an appointment from somebody who might desperately need it,"said Welsh.

“That’s not right, if you’re booking an appointment, you should be there," said Cruz.

Something that would help people like Alicia

“I want to get there so bad,"said Cruz.

Anyone who received their first dose at a county clinic and is concerned that they have not been notified regarding their second dose, you may contact the county at rivco.vaccines@ruhealth.org.