After months of our complaining that there was no app to “plan your vaccine” like the ones in the US, last week the FVG region launched a website to facilitate enrollment and appointment booking for vaccinations for those aged 60+.

https://vaccinazioni-anticovid19.sanita.fvg.it/prenotazione/

Those of us watching our friends and families in the UK and US barrelling through the vaccination process, the European approach has been painfully slow. In an attempt to find shortcuts, I called the US Embassy to ask if US citizens might have access points to vaccinations through the State Dept., but alas, no. Then I wrote to the Airforce Base in Aviano, stating that if they found themselves with extra doses needing to be used I’d be willing to drive the 2 hours to get it, no response….

The new website is a godsend, and thankfully, it is also easy to use and gives you the availability of vaccines region-wide. My friend was booked for a first dose of Astra Zeneca on June 6, but after checking the website’s app, found availability last Sunday, inTarvisio a mountain resort town less than a 2 hour drive from Trieste. He was able to call the vaccination hotline and cancel the previous appointment and rebook the new one.

In Tarvisio, as luck would have it, they looked at his doctor’s medical report and decided to give him Pfizer instead of Astra Zeneca (due to an existing cardiac condition) so his second shot is schedule for the beginning of May. The setup was remarkably efficient, no waiting and the entire process took half an hour, including the 15 min. required post shot waiting period. As a lark on his way home he drove past the vaccination site in Trieste and saw a large crowd of people waiting for their turn at vaccination.

The pace of vaccinations here is finally ramping up and along with it the promise of more doses. Hopefully, I’ll be eligible for mine soon enough. All my NY girlfriends were telling me , “I’ve never been so glad to be old and fat” since that qualified them in the US for early vaccination, but while I fall easily into their ranks, no such luck here – in Italy I’m still considered “too young and skinny!” As if!

Vaccinations can still always be booked:

In Pharmacies that have the CUP desk

At CUP desks in Clinics and Hospitals

or by calling the Regional Call Center at 0434/223522