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

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Then one night parading Facebook (FB)She came across a group called “South Florida COVID-19 Vaccination Info,” which had a post promising to help secure a spot for a vaccine for the first 10 people to respond.

“I sent some basic information and in the morning I got a text from someone who said, ‘Can you take them back to Jackson? [Health] this morning? “Thompson said.” It was surreal because I had explored all the avenues and then all of a sudden I had date confirmations. I was petrified but hoped it was real out of desperation. ”

Covid-19 scams are common, many of which ask for Social Security numbers or credit cards (neither are ever needed). But Thompson had discovered something genuine: a group of volunteers on Facebook logging long hours to vaccinate people like his family. Almost 24 hours after this text message, both parents and her stepmother were vaccinated.

“I was completely amazed,” said her mother Sandra Wortzel, 75, who has never been on Facebook. “I’m not very computer savvy – and it has been so difficult for me and other seniors to manage this process – but I am so thankful to be vaccinated.”

Stefanie Thompson, right, and her mother Sandra
Across the country, an informal infrastructure is emerging to help older people, one of the most at-risk groups, gain access to vaccines. Call it a new kind of tech support, but with life and death issues. Volunteers use Facebook groups, 1-800 hotlines, and one-on-one concierge services to help seniors navigate the complicated registration process. At the same time, kids and grandchildren are stepping in to help, refreshing date websites like some would for concert tickets.
The existence of these services highlights a key gap in the initial deployment of vaccines: Seniors, who are among the first to be able to book online appointments for vaccines, may also be less tech-literate and have less access. to the Internet. According to a 2019 report from the Pew Research Center, about 30% of people aged 65 and over in the United States do not use the internet and 40% do not have broadband access at home. Plus, with reports of registration site crashes, spots filling in minutes, and the challenges of finding the right links and forms, even those familiar with the internet can still struggle.
Florida, in particular, shows the headaches and confusion of this process. It was one of the first states to make vaccines available to people 65 and over. Some countries initially relied on tools like Eventbrite, a ticketing platform normally used to reserve seats at concerts and conferences, to help distribute vaccines. Then the counties began to warn against fraudulent posts on the platform. To further complicate matters for residents, there have also been reports of people traveling to Florida from other states, and even other countries, to get vaccinated.

Nurse Katherine Quirk and her fiancé Russell Schwartz launched the South Florida Facebook page in January after experiencing firsthand the challenges of registering Schwartz’s parents for a vaccine. They started sharing alerts on the page whenever they found out that certain vaccination sites had openings, based on research, calls, and medical website updates. They also posted insider “tips” that Quirk learned while in the medical community, such as whether a center quietly accepted walk-in visits after no-show appointments.

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

But when the places opened, they filled up immediately. So the couple created a waiting list, collecting the names and basic information, such as birthdays and addresses, of the group’s Facebook members. Then they would register these people when appointments were available. With the help of a few volunteers, the couple claim to have booked “thousands” of dates in recent weeks.

“We want to continue with this once the vaccines are available for more,” Quirk said. “All we want is people to be shot.”

They are not alone. The New York Association of the Aging, which connects older people with services in their communities that help them live independently, has dedicated teams of full-time employees who respond to its hotline to register older people. . For the elderly without access to technology, the non-profit organization goes even further: an employee will not only help them find a vaccination center, but he will fill out, print and even bring the necessary documents to their home before their appointment.

“I don’t have a working email or cell phone so I couldn’t have checked in on my own or received the vaccine so quickly … without their help,” said Sally Ebeling , 82 years old. Canton, New York, who hasn’t left their property since February 2020 and used the Association of the Aging to make an appointment. “I’m going to get the shot on Tuesday. A volunteer is coming to pick me up to take me to the pharmacy,” she said.

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

Some older people also get 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 webpage to register her grandmother and father in Florida. But the site continued to crash.

“My grandmother had called earlier in the morning, frustrated and in tears from her attempts to connect, eventually receiving a message that she had been prevented from trying too often – a message she specifically thought was for her, without realizing many others were in the same boat, ”Perez told CNN Business.

Her entire family participated, including Missy’s sister who waited an hour before disconnecting. “I multitasked and opened the link in the middle of the Zoom call. I was so excited to have succeeded that I shouted, extinguished the silence, at my mother who came running. His mother unconsciously stood in the background of the camera shot as they worked quickly to fill out the forms.

“Fortunately I work with some really wonderful people, so when I explained to the group what I was doing, they were so supportive, encouraging me through Zoom,” she says. “They hooted and yelled as we improved the two hour date.”

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