China News Service, March 12th. According to the US "World Journal" report, the appointment process for the new crown pneumonia vaccine is complicated. Many elderly people who do not use computers, do not speak English, and people with disabilities want to get the vaccine but do not know how to make an appointment; A few days ago, Zheng Yiting, a Chinese pediatrician in Manhattan, New York, organized a volunteer group to make online appointments for vaccinations for those in need. More than 400 people applied for assistance in just ten days.
Zheng Yiting said that when the vaccination started in January, she heard that there were neighbors aged 70-80 who could not use a computer and did not know how to make an appointment for vaccination. After she took the initiative to assist, she realized that there were young neighbors in the building who needed help , So she put small notes in the mail room and laundry room of the building, voluntarily making appointments for them.
Later, the neighbors spread word of mouth that in just one week, many relatives and friends of the neighbors also called her to ask her for help.
There are more and more people in need, but Zheng Yiting has to take care of three children before going to work.
She found that there are many volunteers like her on the Internet, so she formed a volunteer group mainly composed of doctors, medical students, and graduate students in early March to help people over 65 years of age and mentally and physically handicapped in their spare time during work and vacation. People who do not speak the language, do not have computer network resources, etc., make an appointment for vaccination
Zheng Yiting said that the government website for vaccine appointments is complicated in design, and telephone appointments are time-consuming. They often hang up after only hearing the phrase "There is no schedule available for appointment." If you want to make an appointment, you have to spend a lot of time to call again.
Since the formation of Zheng Yiting’s volunteer group in early March, it has received nearly 400 requests for help. With the assistance of more than 20 volunteers who can speak Mandarin and Cantonese, it has successfully helped more than 170 people make appointments. Civil forces still cannot allow the vaccine to reach everyone in the immigrant community.
Zheng Yiting said that she will continue to provide vaccine appointment assistance for those in need. In the future, she also hopes to set up booths in the community to expand services to more people in need. "After all, more people get vaccinated and New York City can recover faster. Normal life." (Yan Jiaying)