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More than 132 million people in the U.S. have received a dose of at least 19 covid vaccines, and as of this week, all Americans over the age of 16 are eligible.
But while the U.S. has included more people than any other country in the world, vulnerable people are still falling out of the cracks. The most affected are non-English speakers, non-internet experts and shift workers who do not have time to book jobs or access to a computer. In many places, community leaders, volunteers, and even news outlets have helped to help.
It’s one of those groups Epicenter-NYC, a media company founded during the pandemic to help neighbors navigate covid-19. Located in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights, the organization, which was particularly hard hit by the virus, publishes a newsletter on education, business and other local news.
But it has gone beyond Epicenter-NYC and has actually booked more than 4,600 vaccine appointments in New York and beyond. People who want to get vaccinated can contact the organization – or entry form, phone, text, or email — to help set up an appointment.
Throughout the dissemination of vaccines, the group has been documenting and sharing what they have learned in the process with an audience with numerous newsletter readers.
We spoke to S. Mitra Kalita, editor-in-chief of Epicenter-NYC, who is also CNN Digital’s first vice president and who is also the founder and CEO. Average URL, a news network covering color communities.
This interview has been summarized and edited to make it clearer.
Q: How did you start setting up people with vaccination appointments?
E: It started with both areas of outreach. First, when my parents had to register a vaccine and I found the process to be quite confusing, I immediately thought about how the elderly residents, their friends and neighbors, manage this process. I started texting them.
The second was when it was a restaurant [from our small business spotlight program] he reached out and said, “Do you know how to get vaccinated for our restaurant staff?” As I was navigating some of these for the elderly, I started helping the restaurant staff. A similar network effect began. One of the staff at that restaurant has a boyfriend who is a taxi driver; when I helped her, she asked me if I could help her boyfriend; then the boyfriend wrote to me with some of his friends; and thus continued to spread.
Q: How is Epicenter-NYC filling the gaps in vaccine distribution right now? How is your process and who are you helping?
“There’s a big connection going on between the matches. We can sort out a list of about 7,500 to 8,000 people who said they need help, and then we can find places nearby.”
S. Mitra Kalita
A: We were between 200 and 250 people as an adult volunteer. Outreach efforts include putting out brochures, doing translations, and calling people to book appointments verbatim.
I don’t mind being a Bangladeshi taxi driver in Queens and your cousin being in New Jersey. We will help you both. The 102-year-old woman on the Upper East Side, who has to go home and visit, will have the full support of the Epicenter.
What we are doing now is following the path of connecting people with each other and with opportunities. He’s playing a lot of games. We were able to classify between 7,500 and 8,000 people who said they needed help, and then find places nearby. We have turned this wonderful wedding into a centralized operation that also includes decentralized solutions.
Q: We know that vaccination rates are delayed in many of the hardest hit communities. Why is that? What problems and obstacles do people face?
E: Just before The final step for Johnson & JohnsonI said, “We are in a moment where all that remains is a special case.”
I think we have jumped into the question of vaccination without resolving the introduction of the vaccine. We don’t see much doubt, but we do see a lot of concerns around some issues. The first number would be programmed. We’re talking about two working, maybe three working populations, and when they say “Sunday at 3pm until 6pm, when the next round starts” they mean that’s the only window.
Q: People have been asked to be vaccinated to prove who they are, where they work and where they live. This was especially true when eligibility was more limited. How did you help people find the barriers to getting the documents they needed?
A: New York State has made it explicit that you can get the vaccine even if you don’t have a paper. But this messaging does not match the reality of the earth.
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