After hearing that appointments for COVID vaccines in Florida were going to be available online, Russ Schwartz and Katherine Quirk thought of the challenges senior citizens may have in dealing with the system. The engaged couple thought of their own parents and others in their South Florida area and came up with a way to help them navigate.
Quirk, a pediatric hematology and oncology nurse, and Schwartz, an elementary school principal, created a Facebook group, South Florida COVID-19 Vaccination Info, to help. A month later, the group has 20-thousand members and it’s helped thousands of seniors get appointments for vaccines. The couple oversees a team of 120 volunteers who work one-on-one with people who need help, and they’ve also helped people start similar Facebook groups in New York and Pennsylvania.
“We just want people to realize that right now the demand is so much greater than the supply and it just requires a lot of patience and kindness,” Quirk explains. Schwartz says the response to their Facebook group has been amazing, adding, “I think it’s giving people a lot of hope that we can get through this.”
Source: Good Morning America