Bonnie McGuire's "Vaccine Bookers":

How someones worry and concern turned into solutions for others.

Vaccine Bookers:

Cause: Finding equity in vaccination distribution.

Avenues used: Strategy, social media and news networks.

Methods used: Teamwork

Finding a cause close to home can make one more active in times of need. Mrs. McGuire has three causes in her life that she holds near and dear to her. Family, K-12 education and, more recently, fighting for equity and order in the vaccination system during COVID-19. During these unprecedented times, she has found she was growing angry and dissatisfied with the design that ensures people with their vaccinations. Ms. McGuire had such a powerful experience when receiving her first COVID-19 vaccine, and she wants to share that moment of relief and gratitude with other people her age. She noticed early on that senior citizens were struggling with how to navigate the complicated systems because they were not as used to technology. Rather than just becoming angry and complaining, Ms. McGuire, alongside her retired friends, decided to seek out shortcuts and not take no for an answer in order to get people their vaccines. 

Ms. McGuire began booking appointments for her family members and then spread out to her friends' relatives until she had a list of 40 requests for vaccination appointments. With her team, they began to promote what they were doing on social media platforms because their goal was to secure senior citizens with a vaccine. As the state of Washington goes through the vaccination tiers, Ms. McGuire is supporting the vulnerable senior citizens who should have easy access to appointments. After several weeks of booking 4 to 5 appointments a day, King 5 News helped promote their actions with an interview. That same day, after the interview was published, the group of retirees ended up with 750 emails requesting vaccination support. The group did not anticipate their work to be broadcasted and shared with all of Washington, but in response to their incredible work for their community, it did. Ms. McGuire expressed that the mass amounts of requests made her emotional. It showed just how many people in her community who were 65 or older were afraid they would die and needed help. This pandemic is a detriment to all of us in some shape or form, but it becomes more of a life or death situation for people who are in the older categories. Ms. McGuire stated that her team had to streamline their work to support the needs of all of these people. They implemented immediate email responses to the requests, collected information onto google sheets, and recruited more volunteers. They also began teaching people, on webinars, how to book their appointments if eligible. They are still going strong in supporting these senior citizens, even as the tiers now include educators and child care providers. As the tiers include more, there is less focus on the elderly and fewer appointments available for their vaccinations. Ms. McGuire is all about equity, and she worries that over half of the senior citizens in her community are still not vaccinated. This will raise even more problems because they are especially prone to disease with their weakened immune systems. 

Due to their success, they were contacted by the state of Washington's vaccine program to meet and discuss the system's faults. The Washington vaccine program directors were incredibly receptive to the fact that the minority senior citizens were set up for failure in the process of registering for vaccines. Other vaccine booking programs within Washington had policies in place where it was almost like a running race. Once the younger generations were eligible to book appointments, the elderly had to 'outbook' them to receive their vaccines. Communities of poverty do not have an efficient way of booking appointments because they do not have access to computers. All of the system's hoops and walls were discussed and will be reworked to serve those who struggle thanks to the Vaccine Bookers.

 If you are living in the state of Washington and are eligible to get vaccinated as a senior citizen, and are in a position where you cannot manage the complicated systems in place, please contact ‘vanccinebookers@gmail.com'. They will find you an appointment within a short timespan of your request.

Ms. McGuire immediately recognized a problem in her community. She gathered friends of hers that had the time and tenacity to make a plan to help. This is an important lesson for those who wonder how they can make a change. Sometimes, a need arises, and people like Mrs. McGuire jump in and help fix broken systems rather than complain. This is where activism can make the most impact, and you see results immediately.

With gratitude for reading this week's article,

Ruby