As Florida struggles to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to its large retired population, a Facebook page started by a couple in Parkland is helping seniors navigate the confusing process and get injections.
Russ Schwartz and Katherine Quirk launched South Florida COVID-19 Vaccination Info on January 1, after learning that the state planned to require citizens to schedule online appointments to be vaccinated. They immediately realized that seniors like their parents would face challenges when using this interface.
“We started talking about what we needed to do and what we realized very quickly … that we really needed to fill this technological gap and really help the elderly to find a place where they could learn about how to get the vaccine”, Quirk, the Hematology Nurse pediatric and oncology in Fort Lauderdale, told Yahoo News.
Since late December, Florida has been vaccinating residents 65 and older. With more than 4.3 million residents who fit that description, the launch proved chaotic, with demand outstripping supply and huge queues and residents traveling across the state in search of a photo.
As in other states, Florida has an online system to distribute information and schedule vaccination appointments. This medium, says Quirk, is not ideal for this age group.
“The elderly come from a time when they were waiting in line to get vaccinated against polio and simply got the vaccine. It is very different now. … Most seniors do not know how to log into the system, create a profile, guarantee consultation, access this email or this web address or call this phone number, ”said Quirk.
The Facebook page that Quirk and Schwartz started now has more than 21,000 members. It is a clearinghouse for information about who is eligible, where vaccines are being offered and, most importantly, since supply is limited, when exactly to call or access the vaccine websites to make an appointment. The couple estimates that, since the beginning of the effort, they have already helped more than 1,000 elderly people to get vaccinated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of serious illness with COVID-19 increases with age, with older adults being at higher risk. Approximately eight out of 10 of the more than 452,000 Americans who died of the disease in the United States were older than 65.
Even for senior tech fans, securing an appointment has been a challenge, said Schwartz. Due to the high demand, many of the state and county vaccination registration sites crashed under the weight of tremendous traffic and the health department’s phone lines were overwhelmed with the high volume of calls.
Schwartz, who is the principal of a primary school in Broward County, says he and Quirk soon realized that offering vaccine information on their Facebook page was not enough, so they started making appointments for people.
“We were hiring the few people who contacted us, but we realized that we weren’t the only ones to do that,” said Schwartz. “So, we started bringing in people who had a vision similar to ours and we formed a team.”
This team, which now has more than 100 volunteers, can help those aged 65 and over who cannot make appointments on their own. For those interested in this service, the group created a Google form, which can be filled out by a loved one. Volunteers can then call on behalf of the elderly or log in online to make appointments for them.
The project became a second full-time job for the couple, who also expanded their efforts to other counties in the state besides South Florida. They said there is a national need for the services they are providing, so they are also offering guidance to volunteers in other states who have asked for their help to initiate similar efforts in their communities. So far, Schwartz said, people in New York, New Jersey and Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania have launched their own support pages on Facebook. Volunteers in Pennsylvania, Atlanta and southern California also expressed interest in starting similar support groups.
“These are the ones we know. I mean, I hope there’s more out there too, ”said Schwartz.
The confusion over how to obtain COVID-19 vaccines is a national problem. (For information on who is eligible by state, AARP has created this useful guide.) In response, volunteers with technology experience across the country, like Quirk and Schwartz, stepped in, creating a series of online guides.
These sites and Facebook pages, Schwartz said, are often more useful than the portals and hotlines created by their state and local jurisdictions. In California, a group of engineers created VaccinateCA, a crowdfunding site that allows users to search for hospitals and pharmacies that offer vaccines based on their zip code or region.
Other similar sites run by volunteers have been created in Michigan, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Many more are in development and are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Quirk says it has been gratifying to see people coming together and helping to positively impact their communities’ efforts to end the pandemic.
“We really saw the kindness of the people in our group. We have seen people who have come together and want to help and give back. They want the neighbor to make an appointment. And really just a level of kindness that is so refreshing to see and be a part of, ”said Quirk.
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