These vaccines “Fairies” have booked hundreds of shots for Latino key workers

San Jose — When cleaning and repairing a pool in South Bay’s backyard this spring, Mauricio Lopez talked to employees about COVID-19 vaccination almost every day.

Lopez’s brother and co-owner of Arnie’s Pool and Spa, Rene, died of the virus on February 10. According to Mauricio Lopez, his death was a “wake-up” call for 20 other workers (mainly fellow immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala) to shoot.

“This is serious. We have to do this,” he told them.

But as the weeks went on, none of his employees could get a promise.

Then, one afternoon in April, the client suggested that Lopez contact the Bay Area Group, who was helping the key workers get vaccinated. Overnight, more than half of Lopez’s employees and most of his family were scheduled to shoot.

It was the action of a small volunteer executive who called them “equity fairies.” Formed in response to lasting inequality in California’s vaccine deployment, a group of five volunteers stay up late at night to navigate a complex sign-up system for people to take shots. Help. In about six weeks, they scheduled nearly 300 in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, primarily for Latinos engaged in important work.

“Workers, supervisors, individuals and families are desperate to get the vaccine, but they are discouraged from this labyrinthine access and are clearly told by MyTurn and other sites.” No, or wait for your turn, “said Rosalie Gutierrez Redesma, a volunteer leader from San Jose. “After six weeks, they are still waiting.”

Redesma of Mexican descent began volunteering after her own experience trying to vaccinate for older parents.When she scrutinized the website, filled out a questionnaire, and joined a Facebook group called Bay Area Vaccine Hunter, she Disproportionate benefits For mostly white and wealthy people who are familiar with the time and skills needed to steal limited appointments and have the means to get out of the neighborhood and take pictures.

“These people will post,’Hey, I was vaccinated at Mexican Heritage Plaza,'” Redesma said. “I was honestly angry. They live in my neighborhood, Almaden. That’s what inspired me. For example, I’m doing everything I can.”

To date, only 24% of state-wide vaccinations have gone to the Latin community, according to the California Public Health Service. It accounts for nearly 40% of California’s population and 56% of COVID-19 cases. About 3.7% went to black residents, who make up about 6% of the population. In Santa Clara County, where “equity fairy” is focused, about 14% of vaccinations are directed to Latin Americans, who are about 25% of the county’s population and have cases of coronavirus. It accounts for 50%.

“You’ve always heard people make promises, right?” Sam Uroa, who runs a Latino-focused financial services group and whose employees got their shots through Redesma. Told. “But there was no communication … it was a feature of those who already knew how to get those appointments and were exploiting that loophole.”

As frustration grew, Redesma began calling friends, family and neighbors to find someone in need of help, and soon registered more than 50 on her own. She is a Fremont engineer, Mukesh Aggarwal, 45, who has coded a program that scans the Bay Area vaccine website through the Facebook group and alerts subscribers when new appointments are opened via the messenger app Telegram. ) Was also connected.up Until last week, New appointments throughout the Bay Area were often filled in minutes.

Ledesma told him that the program is eliminating the people who need it most by sending notifications to people who have enough knowledge to sign up for their app in the first place.

“We have found that underprivileged people are much more difficult to find promises than those who have computers or cell phones,” Aggarwal said. “And I was really interested in how much time she was spending.”

They came up with the system. Whenever Ledesma tries to start a reservation, she sends a text message to Aggarwal with “Urgent !!!!!”. – And he delays notification of new slots to about 30,000 subscribers for about 10 minutes. “We have time to book those appointments without conflict,” Redesma said with Telegram subscribers.

By early April, the words of Redesma’s late-night volunteer work had spread among friends of friends in need, local teachers, and Latino business owners. Three strangers in the Facebook group, including two moderators, volunteered to join her.

In the case of shared spreadsheets, Facebook group chat, and Ledesma, with the steady stream of electronic dance music, volunteers start working after their family sleeps, sometimes late at 3am. Recently, we have expanded our services beyond Latin companies. And workers are considering sending a survey to a local community college to expand their work to other Bay Area counties.

Examining the spreadsheet around 10 pm one night recently, each volunteer worked on multiple entries at once, finding an appointment that fits the person’s location and schedule. One volunteer sent a message to someone who accidentally had a birthday in the future. The other was troubleshooting a bug in the Santa Clara County Vaccine website.

Gerald Marcelino, 17, a student at San Jose City College, had virtually given up searching for a vaccine by the time he heard about the Redesma group. As the eldest son of the family, Marcelino was informally responsible for securing family reservations. He tried to search in Spanish so that his parents could see the process himself, but few websites provided information or vaccine applications in Spanish, and there was no step-by-step guide.

He was stressed by updating the page many times between classes and the night shift working at Chipotle. The hotline was waiting a long time and asked for information that I didn’t know the answer to. However, his father was infected with the virus last spring and missed a month’s job as a gardener. The family is afraid of what another attack of the virus can do to their financial stability and the health of Marcelino’s seven-year-old sister. A person who has overcome cancer.

“I felt like I was doing something wrong,” Marcelino said. “To be honest, I was a little upset and worried because I was wondering when I could actually get the vaccine.” “

But on Monday, the morning after he filled out the Redesma questionnaire, he got his first Pfizer shot.

“It makes me feel really safer than before, where I was worried about every little thing,” Marcelino said.

As the supply of vaccines increased and more reservations were made in Santa Clara County, the enthusiastic schedule of volunteer groups slowed down. But availability doesn’t make the system easier to understand, volunteers said: they regularly hear from workers and families who aren’t even aware they are eligible.

Volunteer Lee Nevo Lampley, who lives in Contra Costa County, said closing the gap requires coordinated support and a much easier application process.

“I think 100% we do the work the government should do,” she said.