How would someone go about volunteering to help administering COVID vaccines?

The Quarantine Zone
1

I keep hearing that the problem isn’t the amount of vaccine available, but the personnel to get shots into arms.

I keep thinking, since I’ve been on reduced work hours, maybe there’d be a role for me.

I was in the military, so I have experience with doing things with crowds on very large scale;

I speak Spanish and American Sign Language;

I used to have an active certification as a home health aide, which simply expired-- it wasn’t revoked, or anything-- and I could take a refresher course over a few days, and get re-certified;

When I did supported living, I had a client who needed insulin, so I know how to draw up insulin from a vial, and give the injection. I could probably be retrained to give a vaccine in a short amount of time-- the crucial parts, disposal of sharps, and universal precautions when doing something that breaks skin, I already know.

I haven’t been vaccinated myself, but I would accept the vaccine yesterday if it were offered-- if being vaccinated were part of being able to work in a vaccine clinic, that is not a problem for me.

I have a very reliable car, and I also have a back-up car available just in case.

So I really think I could be an asset to some vaccine team some place. But I’ve been Googling how to volunteer, and I can’t find anything anywhere.

Does anyone know how to volunteer? who to contact? I’m in Indiana, but if someone knows how to volunteer in another state, and it’s “Oh you contact this department, and ask for this office holder,” go ahead and post that, because I can always try the same office holder in Indiana.

I’ll even take suggestions, or stories like “My cousin’s dental hygienist volunteered, and I think she did this…” I’ll do research before I send any email or make any phone calls, so all ideas are appreciated, because I’m stuck right now.

2

I’ve wondered the same thing, although I’m much less qualified than you.

But i suspect the limiting factor is actually the vaccine supply and not people to do vaccinations.

3

I just recently signed up as a non-clinical volunteer, but they are fully staffed at the moment. I got an email saying that may change, and that they’d be in touch in a few weeks.

I found a place to sign up after Googling “volunteer to staff vaccination clinic” without the quotes. The place I signed up with is the teaching hospital in my city, but a couple other options also came up in my search. They were “health systems” associated with other hospitals, and an HMO.

I think another place to try would be your county health department. I’d check their website first, and if no info is there, then try calling.

4

Here’s a page concerning volunteering in Indiana. Not sure if it’s relevant to your location, but it might help you figure out how to proceed.

https://careers.publichealth.iu.edu/blog/2020/12/21/volunteers-needed-for-upcoming-covid-19-vaccine-clinics/#!

.

5

In Los Angeles, you should call Sean Penn,