Tapping Into the Vaccine Whisper Network
“I heard if you volunteer at a vaccination site, they give you a shot at the end of the day,” a friend said on a socially distanced walk last month. “Okay, I heard that too, but now on the website where you sign up, it explicitly says you won’t receive the vaccine,” another friend added. “Maybe they just have to say that because it’s not guaranteed, and they don’t want people to be mad?”
It was just one of many conversations I’ve had over the past few months centered around the vaccine. It’s almost hard to talk about anything else: when we’ll be eligible; how to get a “leftover shot” before we’re eligible; what the ethics are of skipping the line; what are the side effects; in theory, which shot we’d prefer, knowing we won’t get the choice; what we plan to do once we’re fully vaccinated.
And now that many states are opening up appointments to all adults over the age of 16, the discourse is reaching an almost fever pitch around the topic of how to score a coveted time slot. As government websites falter and official communication is less than clear about the process, tips and tricks for how to get a shot in your arm are some of the hottest gossip on the market.
That's where what I'm calling the vaccine whisper network comes in: the people who offer insight and assistance beyond what local politicians and the department of health can provide. For some, it might be a friend in the medical community stepping up to fill that gap, or a tech-savvy college student who's spent years honing his internet skills gaming and can score an appointment the minute they drop. For many in New York, Huge Ma, the software engineer behind TurboVax, served as a key resource in navigating the vaccination process. He created a free website that shares open vaccine appointments in NYC in real time to Twitter, and in a recent profile in New York Magazine, he noted that he's helped tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people get their jabs.
“If you were to tell me from the very beginning that I would have helped a hundred people get their vaccines, I would have been ecstatic… At this point, it’s tens of thousands. It could be hundreds of thousands,” he told Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz. “I would like to think that once it’s all said and done that I’ve made a meaningful difference in the lives of many New Yorkers. That never would have happened if I just didn’t do it.”
Even Nicholaus Braun a.k.a. Succession’s Cousin Greg is getting in on the action. As a follow-up to his coronavirus-themed bop "Antibodies (Do You Have The)" he's been sharing strategies for how to snag an extra vaccine; a dose that's been warmed, but wouldn't otherwise be used.
“Try your local Walgreens/CVS,” he wrote on Instagram. “Every day there may be one or two no-shows, extra appointments not being taken.”
Clearly his tips worked. He's posted a number of success stories, that are all available to see in a highlight on his profile. "Getting lots of messages about successful Walgreens and pharmacy trips," he wrote. "They're giving em out all over."
The vaccination process is seemingly hitting its stride. Earlier this week, President Biden said that all U.S. adults should be eligible for vaccines by April 19, but it's still a biased system, benefiting those who have time to scour websites for open appointments and then wait in line for the shots. Even as supply increases, these vaccine whisperers, famous and not, deserve thanks for what they're doing to flatten the learning curve, all the while keeping hope alive for herd immunity, an end to this pandemic, and eventually, a change in the conversation.
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