When technical support is life or death: family and strangers mobilize to vaccinate the elderly

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Then one night while traveling Facebook (FB), happened with a group called “South Florida COVID-19 Vaccination Information,” which had a publication that promised to help secure a place for the vaccine for the top 10 people to respond to.

“I sent basic information, and in the morning I had a text from someone saying,‘ Can you take them to Jackson? [Health] this morning? “Thompson said.” It was surreal because I had been exploring all the avenues and suddenly I had appointment confirmations. I was petrified, but I hoped it was real out of total despair. ”

Covid-19 scams are common, many of which require Social Security numbers or credit cards (none are ever required). But Thompson had discovered something genuine: a group of volunteers on Facebook recording long hours to vaccinate people like his family. Nearly 24 hours after this text message, both parents and their stepmother were vaccinated.

“I was completely amazed,” said her mother Sandra Wortzel, 75, who has never been to Facebook. “I’m not very good at the computer, and it’s been so hard for me and other seniors to manage this process, but I’m very grateful to be vaccinated.”

Stefanie Thompson, right, and her mother Sandra
Across the country, an informal infrastructure is emerging to help the elderly, one of the most at-risk groups, access vaccines. Call it a new kind of technical support, but with bets for life or death. Volunteers use Facebook groups, 1-800 hotlines, and individual concierge services to help seniors navigate the complicated registration process. At the same time, children and grandchildren step in to help them, refreshing dating websites in the same way some would do for concert tickets.
The existence of these services reveals a key deficit in the initial launch of vaccines: the elderly, who are among the first to make online appointments for vaccines, may also be less literate in technology and have less access to the Internet. . According to a 2019 report from the Pew Research Center, about 30% of people age 65 and older in the United States do not use the Internet and 40% do not have broadband access at home. In addition, with failure reports from registration sites, filling in gaps in a matter of minutes, and the challenges of finding the right links and forms, even those who know the Internet can continue to have problems.
Florida, in particular, demonstrates the headaches and confusion of this process. It was one of the first states to make vaccines available to people over 65. Some counties initially relied on tools such as Eventbrite, a ticketing platform typically used to reserve seats at concerts and conferences, to help distribute vaccines. Then the counties started warning about fraudulent posts on the platform. To further complicate residents ’affairs, it was also reported that people flew to Florida from other states and even other countries to get the vaccine.

Katherine Quirk, a nurse, and her fiancé Russell Schwartz launched the South Florida Facebook page after experiencing first-hand the challenges of registering Schwartz’s parents for the vaccine. They started sharing alerts on the page every time they discovered that certain vaccine sites had openings, based on researching, calling, and updating medical websites. They also posted privileged “advice” that Quirk learned from the medical community, such as whether a center would silently accept visits after non-presentation appointments.

Katherine Quirk and Russell Schwartz are behind the Facebook group that connects seniors with vaccination dates in Florida

But when places were opened, they were filled immediately. So the couple created a waiting list, collecting names and basic information, such as birthdays and addresses, from members of the Facebook group. They would then register those people when the appointments were available. With the help of some volunteers, the couple claims to have booked “thousands” of appointments in recent weeks.

“We want to continue with this after the vaccines are available for more,” Quirk said. “All we want is for people to get shot in the arms.”

They are not alone. The New York Aging Association, which connects seniors with services in their communities that help them live independently, has dedicated teams of full-time staff who respond to their hotline to register people. big. For seniors without access to technology, the nonprofit organization goes one step further: an employee will not only help them find a vaccination center, but will fill out, print, and even bring the necessary documentation to home before your appointments.

“I don’t have an email or a cell phone that works, so there’s no way I could have registered on my own or gotten the vaccine so quickly … without your help,” said Sally Ebeling, 82, Canton , New York, which has not left its property since February 2020 and has used the Aging Association to book its appointment. “On Tuesday I’m going to get my shot. A volunteer picks me up to drive me to the pharmacy,” he said.

Candoo Tech, a monthly technical support and training service for seniors, offers one-hour remote sessions for $ 45 with its specialists, many of whom are former employees of Apple’s Genius Bar and Best Buy’s Geek Squad , to help with the vaccine registration process. This may include filling out online forms for seniors over the phone, or remotely installing a Google Chrome extension that automatically updates a webpage every few seconds or minutes.

Some seniors also receive technical support from a more familiar source: their grandchildren. Missy Perez, social media manager for the Philadelphia Phillies, said she spent most of a business meeting earlier this month refreshing a website to register her grandmother and father in Florida. But the place kept failing.

“My grandmother had called in the morning that morning frustrated and crying over her login attempts, and she finally received a message that she had been barred from trying too many times, a message she thought was specifically for her, without realizing many were on the same boat, “Perez told CNN Business.

Her entire family settled in, including Missy’s sister, who waited an hour before disconnecting. “I did several tasks and opened the link to the medium zoom call. I was so excited to have gotten that I called, silently, my mother who came running.” Her mother, unknowingly, stayed at the back of the camera as they quickly worked to fill out the forms.

“Luckily, I work with really wonderful people, so when I explained to the group what I was doing, they were so supportive, encouraging me through Zoom,” he said. “They screamed and yelled when we propped up the two appointment schedules.”

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