DETROIT – Many people have been struggling to get an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Seniors have been struggling the most and a woman in Michigan noticed the need for help.
She launched a volunteer group to take the burden away from the people looking to get vaccinated.
Katie Monaghan created three Facebook groups. Detroit Area Vaccine Hunters of Michigan is one of them, the other two are based out of West Michigan and Northern Michigan.
She launched the groups when she realized how many people were in Michigan who wanted the vaccine but were still having trouble finding it.
“I had seen how helpful vaccine hunter pages were in other cities. I tried to find one in the Detroit area and there wasn’t,” Monaghan said.
The Facebook pages act as a resource, compiling as much information as possible in one place. Volunteers will make appointments on a patient’s behalf.
Since the group launched, 1,700 people have signed up. The group has helped 700 people so far. Monaghan said they are screening their volunteers and destroying data.
“We do purges almost every day. The only information is people that we’re actively helping,” she said.