Hundreds of people have already been vaccinated at the United Center and some were left confused over how to book appointments for their second doses at the arena site.
Marina Secor is feeling thankful after getting vaccinated Tuesday.
“I feel so relieved a weight lifted off of me but I do have a sore arm today,” she said. “I don’t have any other symptoms.”
She told NBC 5 the process was smooth and easy, but when she asked about booking an appointment for the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine they told her this.
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“I should be getting an email letting me know my next dose,” she said. “I haven’t received an email so it’s a little nerve wrecking wondering like if I’m going to get it or if there’s an issue— if I’m going to have to try to find another appointment for the second dose.”
Others like Dan Gonzales also in the same boat.
“They told me 12 hours so I figured 6:30 this morning was 12 hours— I didn’t receive nothing,” said Gonzales.
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Gonzales got vaccinated to protect his elderly loved ones. He’s hoping in a few days he’ll hear from the city of Chicago about his second dose.
“I understand the process is new so there might be some kinks in it so I’ll just wait and see what happens,” he said. “If I don’t hear nothing within five days then maybe I’ll wonder, okay, what do I do?”
Instead of getting an email, some people told NBC 5 they got a text message thanking them for getting the vaccine and reminding them to schedule a follow up appointment. The text also included a link to an Illinois Department of Public Health website asking people to fill out a COVID-19 vaccine registration and screening questionnaire.
“It didn’t have options on any of the pages for the United Center so I’m not really sure,” said Secor.
According to the City of Chicago and ZocDoc, people can book their second dose appointment while on site, but Alyssa Kromelis got vaccinated on the second day and said that wasn’t the case
“At no point did they schedule me a second appointment. They didn’t even mention it to me,” she said. “There was like one sign on the door, like right by the exit when you leave, that said like, you’ll get a second appointment via email and that was it. They had it in Spanish and English.”
A Chicago Department of Public Health spokesperson told NBC 5 in an email that second appointments were automatically scheduled and people were notified via text or email.
Those who did not get the notifications are being told to call the city hotline at (312) 746- 4835 to confirm their second appointments. The spokesperson also said onsite staff at the United Center is aware of this process and that starting Thursday appointments for second doses will be made on site.
“I know three people that got vaccinated in the last two days there and nobody has received any sort of second dose information,” said Kromelis. “If they scheduled a dose for somebody and it’s not at like a good time or day, some people can’t take off work to get a second dose so they need know when they can go and get it so that’s a little concerning.”
