COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling System in California Now Available in 12 Languages, Including Punjabi

California’s online COVID-19 vaccine scheduling tool, My Turn, is now offering services in Punjabi. (covid-19.ca.gov photo)

India-West Staff Reporter

The California Department of Public Health has announced that the state’s online COVID-19 vaccine scheduling tool, My Turn, is offering services in a total of 12 languages – including Punjabi – allowing more state residents to comfortably navigate myturn.ca.gov.

This new update, which adds five new languages, is part of California’s larger initiative to make vaccines easily accessible for all residents, with a focus on those who have been hardest hit by COVID-19, CDPH said in press release.

The website is now available in Armenian, Japanese, Khmer, Punjabi, and Russian, along with languages already offered: Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and English.

“California’s remarkable wealth of diversity is always top of mind as we create and perfect the tools that will ensure every resident can easily access life-saving COVID-19 vaccines — regardless of the language they speak,” said Tomás Aragón, CDPH director and state public health officer. “The My Turn website and hotline play a key role in alerting Californians when they are vaccine eligible, and helping them schedule an appointment, so we want to ensure it is accessible to everyone.”

Less than two months after launching My Turn, 1.6 million appointments have been scheduled through the platform, according to the department.

Individuals who do not have access to the internet can sign up for an appointment by calling My Turn’s toll-free hotline 1-833-422-4255, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., it said.

My Turn operators can provide on-demand assistance in English and Spanish, translators who speak more than 250 languages are also available as needed.

Following a short pilot in San Diego and Los Angeles, California announced My Turn Jan. 25 as a statewide tool to notify Californians of their eligibility to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Californians in every county can sign up for My Turn’s vaccine eligibility notification at myturn.ca.gov.

The My Turn scheduling feature is now widely available in a majority of counties and is expected to expand to all Californians in the coming weeks, added the press release.