{"id":190668,"date":"2021-02-27T16:10:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T13:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ny-vaccine-rollout-has-people-finding-appointments-for-strangers\/"},"modified":"2021-02-27T16:10:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-27T13:10:37","slug":"ny-vaccine-rollout-has-people-finding-appointments-for-strangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ny-vaccine-rollout-has-people-finding-appointments-for-strangers\/","title":{"rendered":"#NY vaccine rollout has people finding appointments for strangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#NY vaccine rollout has people finding app<\/a>ointments for strangers<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\u201cCan you talk about something else besides vaccines?\u201d my friend Jeff said on the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I guess he could think about something else because he lives in California, where the vaccine rollout is smooth and he can simply wait for his doctor to call him when it\u2019s his turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I can\u2019t talk about anything else, not in New York, whose system is so labyrinthian it\u2019s forced people to compete for appointments like it\u2019s \u201cThe Hunger Game<\/a>s,\u201d or to simply give up in frustration. There\u2019s the state Web site, the city Web site, separate applications for Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens, not to mention hospitals, smaller pharmacies and mysterious sites that seem to drop hundreds of doses in the middle of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, some people were baking bread, others were organizing their closets, but now, a growing number of people are trying to help strangers secure vaccine appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For me, it started back in January, when I learned people over 75 would qualify in New York. I tried to help my mother in Riverdale, my father-in-law in Queens and my brother-in-law\u2019s father in Washington Heights find appointments. It was a good thing, because within a few days the system opened up to 65-year-olds, and then to people with comorbidities \u2014 a positive development, surely, except that it left New York\u2019s elderly and people without computers (or computer literacy) shot-less.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Soon I joined a Facebook<\/a> group called New York\/Connecticut Vaccine Hunters and Angels, or VaccineAngel.com<\/a>, started by Joel Leyden, who has helped hundreds online and dozens offline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI created VaccineAngel.com because I had the cyber and social media training to reach thousands,\u201d Leyden said about making appointments for eligible people (with first priority to the elderly and first responders), as well as helping others seek excess vaccines that might otherwise be discarded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that a professional group would save vaccines and save lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Groups like these not only share links to available sites and vaccines, but tips and tricks: like what exact time the state releases appointments (three minutes on the half hour) or which auto-refresher extension to install on your browser so you don\u2019t have to break your thumb pressing the same \u201cupdate\u201d button.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rhoda
Rhoda Winkelman, 96, was the first to receive the Walgreen supplied vaccine shot, but other seniors haven\u2019t been so lucky.<\/figcaption>
Matthew McDermott<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After I started making appointments for eligible Facebook friends \u2014 one with a heart problem, another who was a cancer survivor and had a parent hospitalized with COVID \u2014 I realized I understood how to navigate the system, and could do it for other eligible people, too. (My biggest coup among the 30 strangers: getting an 85-year-old couple from The Bronx vaccinated.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no hero. I just want this pandemic to be over. And, as a journalist\/crusader who likes to battle the system and institutions in order to improve them, I also take immense satisfaction in fighting for the little guy \u2014 and by \u201clittle guy\u201d I mean everyone in New York who is sitting on hold for hours only to be told there are no available appointments.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m not the only one.<\/p>\n

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\"Vaccine
Vaccine hunter Dana Siegal and one of the group\u2019s posts on Facebook.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of Dana Siegal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIn the middle of a pandemic, when life is slow, it\u2019s unbelievably gratifying to find something besides my day-to-day that\u2019s challenging and helpful,\u201d said Dana Siegal, a vaccine hunter who has aided dozens of people, including a few elderly women who can\u2019t travel<\/a> far.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most I\u2019ve talked to strangers in a year \u2026 I wish I could find more people to help!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This rush \u2014 getting e-mails of gratitude from strangers, seeing photos of vaccinated people, finally having a sense of purpose and urgency \u2014 is indeed satisfying \u2026 and mildly addicting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some \u201cVaccine Angels\u201d report having dreams of auto-refreshing a Web site page, others say they feel like any phone call that isn\u2019t with a vaccine hotline is a waste of time, and a few admit that helping people is becoming a competitive sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think you should stop now?\u201d my husband said when he came home to find our young daughter eating dinner in front of the TV \u2026 and me still talking to someone on the Vaccine Hotline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will stop,\u201d I promised my husband, as I kept searching for someone\u2019s father, who lives on what we call \u201cThe Dreaded Long Island,\u201d due to its dearth of availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to give it one more shot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy Klein is a writer<\/a> living in NYC. Follow her on Twitter @AmydKlein<\/a> and on Instagram<\/a>.<\/em>\n <\/div>\n