A tech-savvy high school student from Chicago – who discovered he had a knack for vaccine branding – is helping hundreds of seniors do just that.
Benjamin Kagan is a freshman at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago. When not in school or doing homework, he spends most of his time “looking for nominations” for more than 550 people in the Illinois area alongside a list of volunteers known as the Chicago Vaccine Angels.
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More than 74% of Illinois residents who applied for help are over 65, Kagan told Fox News.
“Many of these people [seniors] are struggling a lot with the technological aspect of it all and really need help, “he said.
He then developed a centralized system to help track and schedule appointments for those in need.
(Benjamin Kagan in Chicago, Illinois (Credit: Irv Kagan))
It all started during winter break, when he helped his grandparents navigate the Florida system.
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“Florida’s system was a big mess,” he said. “It was a crazy thing and there were thousands and thousands of people competing for slots.”
With four computer monitors open, Kagan was up for the challenge. He remembered competing with about 66,000 other people.
After getting his first dose from his grandparents, he started helping his parents, who own an essential business in Illinois.
After discovering the Facebook group, Chicago Vaccine Hunters, he started offering tips on how and where to look for vaccines in the area.
And he was not the only one. In fact, he was one of many other users who were constantly offering guidance on the page.
Shortly after starting posting tips, Kagan said his own Facebook inbox was quickly inundated with messages.
“It turned out to be people sending me private messages on Facebook saying, ‘You know, Benjamin, can you help me? … If I give my information, can you use it for me?'” He said.
The messages were too much for him to follow, so he formed the Chicago Vaccine Angels.
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To create a centralized system, Kagan created a Google form that will feed a person’s name and other personal information into a spreadsheet.
“Now, we are all looking for compromises,” he said.
In just over a week since the Google form went live, Kagan and his group of volunteers have already connected 294 people with appointments. However, requests continue to pile up.
To date, the spreadsheet has well over 554 responses.
Tracking these commitments is not an easy task, he said. During the winter holidays, he remembered to spend hours every day just to fulfill all requests.
And he has no plans to stop anytime soon.
“My plan is to keep doing this until someone can call a Walgreens and say, ‘OK, I’m coming in five minutes … be ready for me,'” he said.