COVID-19 vaccine reaches community, teacher group helps navigate appointment sign-ups

After seeing the January announcement that teachers were eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Whitman Spanish teacher Kathleen Bartels immediately began digging around on

Finding an appointment wasn’t easy; it took countless failed attempts and cancelations in neighboring Prince George’s County before Cross Hospital in Montgomery County.

Thankfully, the appointment ran smoothly, she said. As Bartels walked out of the hospital, she breathed –– although still through a mask –– a sigh of relief. back to normal life,” she said.

For Bartels and many others, the light at coronavirus vaccines are phased into the Whitman community and across the world. groups of Maryland residents in December. Phase 1A allowed healthcare workers, nursing some high-risk public-sector staff to receive a vaccination. By January, phase 1B opened vaccinations to those in any congregate living setting, K-12 educators, child care staff, further essential government workers and any adults over the age of 75, among other high-risk populations. Vaccinations for phase 1C began at the end of January, including adults aged 65 to 74 and an expanded pool of essential workers. Montgomery County has fallen behind the rest of the state, with phase 1B remaining in place for many vaccine locations through the beginning of March. Whitman parent Amy Eisenberg, who works as a nurse at Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center in the medical-surgical unit. Eisenberg was in the later round of nurses in phase 1A to receive the vaccine, as the ICU workers had higher priority, she said.

Although nurses in Maryland have adequate personal protective equipment, including double masks, face shields and gowns, Eisenberg said, they still come into close contact with COVID-19 patients. Before she received the vaccine, Eisenberg took great care to keep her family safe, going through a series of safety procedures after every hospital shift.

“I came in through the basement, took off my shoes before I got in and put my clothes right in the washing machine. Before I saw anybody, I showered in the basement so I felt I was protected and didn’t put my family in any jeopardy,” she said. “However, after I get my second round of the vaccine, I’ll have less worries about spreading the virus to my family after I have contact with COVID patients in the hospital.”

Along with Eisenberg, senior Jolie Rosenstein received the vaccine early on. Rosenstein volunteers as an emergency medical technician at the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department, which made her eligible for vaccination in phase 1A.

During a shift, she rides in either an am through her station and jumped at the chance, she said.

“I’m riding in ambulances and going to greatly for my health and the health of those around me,” Rosenstein said. “I’m very grateful to get this opportunity because few people are able to.”

Senior Morgan Riso, who works at Potomac Grocer in the Potomac Village

Shopping Center, was eligible for vaccination in phase 1C. She was able to secure a spot at Six Flags America, a mass vaccination site in Bowie, and even though the sign eight minutes, the process was easier than expected, she said. Riso only had to bring license and her last paycheck, she said.

“We stayed in our car the whole time. After we signed in, we waited our turn to get the vaccine. When they were ready, we pulled up, and they gave it to me through the window,” Riso said. “It was really simple. I was only there for about an hour total.”

Although the possible side effects of the vaccine have caused controversy, with some citing the accelerated approval from the FDA or the unknown long-term effects as reasons to refuse vaccination, Eisenberg recommends that people consider the known effects of the alternative: potentially contracting COVID-19.

“The side effects that people have had are just temporary; they just last a couple of days,” Eisenberg said. “If you think of it that way as opposed to what could happen if you get COVID –– like most likely feeling tired and sore for a few days versus ending up in the hospital and having long-term effects on your health –– the vaccine is the better option.”

With in-person schooling beginning for some students in March, Maryland’s phase 1B allowed teachers to get a jumpstart on vaccination. Many teachers and others in the expanded tier, though eager to get the vaccine, strug-

did. After helping her children’s elderly piano teacher get an appointment Bartels realized up, as they aren’t as comfortable with technology and may not have anyone to assist them, she said.

“The more access to technology you have, cination,” Bartels said. “Teachers tend to be under 65, and the essential workers, like postal workers and grocery store employees, all tend to not be senior citizens. This kind of pits them against the 65-plus crowd also trying to get vaccinated.”

Although teachers seem to work in a “petri dish” of illnesses during in-person school, Bartels never wanted to take vaccines away from vulnerable older citizens, she said. So when Sherwood business teacher Margaret Lynch teachers seeking assistance in creating a public spreadsheet with vaccination locations to help

graphic by MAYA WIESE

eager to help.

“I started with posting information about getting vaccinated on Facebook,” Lynch said. “People just started asking me more and more about how to sign up, and I started offering to help people get appointments. One day, I woke up and had tons of inquiries for help, so I reached out to six other MCPS teachers to help me create a spreadsheet.”

Dubbed Montgomery County’s own “Vaccine Hunters,” the group includes teach Damascus, Montgomery Blair, Thomas Edison and Whitman.

As the teachers started helping their el they found that senior citizens were trying to call a Montgomery County vaccine hotline and reaching no one, Bartels said.

They created a Google Forms survey for the elderly to informally sign up for a vaccine at White Oak Medical Center, which seemed to have many open appointments. When a spot became available, the teachers would contact

Beyond helping the elderly, the Vaccine Hunters also aim to assist minorities and low-income residents who may have trouble getting access to a vaccine, Bartels said. “In the clinics that have opened up, most of the people being served are white,” Bartels said. “There are hard hit areas in this county and across the state where the majority of the people are not white, so we were really trying to spread the spreadsheet out to communities of color.”

Montgomery County Council members and leaders have expressed similar concerns. Raymond Crowel, director of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, noted a centralized registration system that is equitable — that allows equity and that decreases the level of confusion about where you can register. ”

“A single system would give us that,” he said.

The Vaccine Hunters and other similar groups have met that need instead, with volunteers organizing their own groups and helping frustrated residents from Colorado to Georgia.

The teachers advertised the Montgomery County spreadsheet on Facebook and people who received the vaccine with assistance from the Hunters would recommend the group to their friends. Soon, the group began receiving an abundance of inquiries for help every week, Lynch said.

“When things exploded, we had to stop taking people because there were just hundreds and hundreds of people,” Lynch said about the online form. “There was no shortage of people looking.”

The group of seven began recruiting parent and teacher volunteers, which allowed them to open up for help requests again. When their workload became less overwhelming, the teachers decided to focus their efforts on the root of the problem: PrepMod, the online platform that’s used for appointment registrations in Maryland and other states.

The main issue with PrepMod was the unregulated use of the website, Lynch said. When someone signs up for an appointment, they get the county, their boss or an organization that had permission from the county to administer it. However, the link is easily shared, and people who are from other counties or do not meet the requirements for vaccines make appointments for themselves. When they get to the vaccination location, they cannot produce the appropriate credentials for the current tier and are turned away. Many appointments, then, go unused.

The time required to navigate the website is also an issue; applicants are forced to read through extensive information when new appointments go live before being able to secure them, Lynch said, leaving those who have trouble navigating technology at a major disadvantage.

The PrepMod page that displayed vaccine information in Spanish also had many errors in its directions and was virtually illegible, according to the Spanish-speaking members of the Vaccine Hunters.

“We realized quickly that we were getting a lot of attention and that attention would really set us in a place where we could start advocating,” Lynch said. “So we shifted our energy to advocating for a better system.”

The group had extensive meetings with several members of the Montgomery County Council, the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus and representatives from the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Ser Through these meetings, the Spanish teachers in the Hunters were able to improve the Spanish informational page, editing it line by line ings of their website and demanded the errors

While the Vaccine Hunters put many hours into their work, Lynch believes that anyone can help someone in need get vaccinated, making a major difference in someone’s life regardless of how small the act may seem.

“As teachers, it’s part of our DNA to want to help people,” Lynch said. “We realize that we have a pretty good skill set when it comes to technology and dealing with people. But doing anything, like getting someone an appointment, maybe providing someone a ride to get vaccinated or just getting the word out in any way, is extremely important.”

Although the vaccine’s release brings hope and optimism to many, the rollout does not mean it’s time to dismiss the pandemic, Eisenberg said.

“It’s going to take a while for everybody to get vaccinated, and there are still so many unknowns,” she said. “Until we know where this is going, we have to keep wearing the masks, keep social distancing and keep playing it safe, but hold out hope for the future.”