Volunteering Breaks Hearts

Item

Title (Dublin Core)

Description (Dublin Core)

I volunteered at one of the County’s vaccination clinics last week. The health department ramped up their vaccination schedule, and we saw nearly 50% more traffic than the week prior, which was already 30% above its projections. Many of the folks over 65 (group 1C) here in Tucson are going up to Phoenix to be vaccinated as local health officials are still working their way through the 75+ crowd (Group 1B1). It has been both heartbreaking and frustrating that about a third of the vehicle occupants beg and plead for some special exemption for a family member who’s with them. Despite not yet being entitled to be vaccinated themselves, they hope someone lets them cut in line. Everyone has a special need and a special, unique circumstance that should enable them to jump ahead of their neighbors, and the selfishness of it agitates one of my few prejudices, especially when they don't take the initial 'no' for an answer.

The public is so terrified, and many seem to fear they won’t manage to avoid illness in the coming weeks despite having done so for ten months now. It hurts my heart to see their suffering, to hear their fear and anxiety, to have to turn them away, and to know they’re asking for special treatment that might deny the delivery of vaccines to the most vulnerable populations.

The hardest part has been, though, the number of elderly folks entitled to be vaccinated who can't navigate the online portal to get an appointment. The current vaccines are stored so cold that we can't deviate from the allotted appointments, but every day brings in elderly people who can't function in a digital world. The county can't spare personnel to offer immediate and realistic registration help to them, and many have complained of waiting on the phone for hours, only to have the county phone line hang up on them. The situation makes me want to find their grandchildren and ask why they don't give a damn about helping their grandparents.

I also found out last night our organization's portion of the operation is winding down, and I do not expect to again be able to help facilitate vaccinations in my community. With time and eventual immunization, I hope to find other ways to serve my neighbors.

Date (Dublin Core)

January 31, 2021

Event Identifier (Dublin Core)

HST580

Partner (Dublin Core)

Arizona State University

Type (Dublin Core)

text

Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)

English Healthcare

English Emotion

English Health & Wellness

English Neighborhoods

English Social Issues

English Community & Community Organizations

English Community Service

Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)

vaccination clinic

vaccination traffic

heartbreaking

appointment

community

immunization

technical illiteracy

elder abandonment

Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)

volunteer

vaccine

vaccination

emotion

fear

anxiety

HST580

Arizona State University

government

healthcare

elderly

Collection (Dublin Core)

Vaccine Stories

Over 60

Healthcare

Linked Data (Dublin Core)

HST 580 Professional Experience/Archives course

Date Submitted (Dublin Core)

1/31/2021

Date Modified (Dublin Core)

2/1/2021

03/27/2021

08/02/2022

09/12/2024

Date Created (Dublin Core)

1/31/2021

Item sets

Covid 19

Arizona State University

This item was submitted on January 31, 2021 by [anonymous user] using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://www.covid-19archive.org/s/archive

Click here to view the collected data.

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