February 16, 2021 • 33 mins
We can all agree we're in need of a feel-good story right now, so meet Harriet! She has been dedicating her time and energy to helping elderly people navigate the world of technology so they can receive the vaccine. "Anybody would do the same when you hear the people on the other line," she says. From family to strangers, she's helped so many get access to the information they need so they aren't left behind. She also details her hints, tips, and suggestions on how to look for vaccination access!
Below is the New York Times article that inspired this conversation in the first place:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-vaccinations.html
Stay tuned and follow us on social media (@fatiguedpodcast) to hear more about our upcoming changes, news, and updates!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Caroline Amos (00:00):
Hi, I'm Caroline Amos.
Raymond McAnally (00:01):
And I'm Raymond McAnally.
Caroline Amos (00:03):
And we are Fatigued. Before we begin this
whole story, I just want to sayafter reading the article about
you in the New York Times, theFred Rogers quote came to mind,
look for the helpers. I justthink that what you're doing is
(00:25):
so special. And Harriet, tell usmore about you what's going on.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:31):
My name is Harriet Diamantidis. And I have
been volunteering, signing theelderly up for the COVID
vaccine, so that they can getvaccinated for any elderly
person who is not familiar withthe internet.
Caroline Amos (00:45):
You absolute Angel,
Raymond McAnally (00:46):
You nailed that summary!
Harriet Diamantidis (00:48):
Oh, I was just gonna say Did I or not?
Raymond McAnally (00:50):
No, that was great.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:51):
I was awkward a little bit.
Caroline Amos (00:53):
No, you're good.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:55):
So I'm from Rockaway Beach, Queens. I don't
know if you guys have ever beenthere. But it's a little town in
Queens that usually most peoplehaven't heard of, although now
it's more popular. And I grew upthere, and my grandparents would
stay with us every summer. Andit's really my grandmother who
(01:15):
inspired this journey for me.
And so I was signing her up forthe COVID vaccine. And if you've
ever called My grandmother onthe phone, it's it's hilarious,
because she can barely use thephone. So you sort of have to,
you know, announce who you areabout 13 to hide, you know,
cutely hang up on you about, youknow, five times.
(01:41):
She's the best!
Raymond McAnally (01:42):
And is that just like a switch to cell
phones kind of thing?
Harriet Diamantidis (01:46):
Something like that. Exactly. So as I was
signing her up for the vaccineonline, I said, I couldn't help
but think about all the otherpeople in her age category. And,
you know, how are they going tomaneuver through this online?
You know, phase and you know, ifshe can't work her landline? How
(02:08):
was she? How is anybody going tofigure out this process online?
And, you know, people in her agecategory are obviously most at
risk for COVID. And I startedthinking about all the elderly
people, what were they going todo and the baby boomers, you
know, they use the internet, butthey're obviously, you know, not
as good at it as you know,someone like me, or you are and
(02:31):
so I just
Raymond McAnally (02:32):
I don't know, I know, I know, 40 year olds, 20
year olds can use the internetvery well.
Harriet Diamantidis (02:39):
It's a challenge. And so that's really
what inspired all of this forme. And so I made a post on
Facebook and instantly, so manypeople from all ages wanted
advice and needed help. Andthat's really how all of this
got started.
Raymond McAnally (02:56):
So you sent it out initially to your circle of
friends, or was there alreadysome group that was for this?
Harriet Diamantidis (03:03):
So I am a member of a bunch of public
groups on Facebook, from myhometown of Rockaway Beach, to
the town that I currently livein to the Upper East Side, mom's
group on Facebook. So naively, Iposted it in about seven
Facebook groups that had, youknow, a total of like, 100,000
(03:26):
members, and I really didn'tthink that so many people would
reach out to me, Oh, my God, Ionly thought, you know, maybe 10
people would need help, butright away, tons and tons of
people. I was overwhelmed withhow many people needed help. And
of course, I didn't want to nothelp anybody. So right away, you
(03:47):
know, Nico, and I Nico's myhusband, we were up till two in
the morning, you know, helpingpeople. And that's really how
this all got started. You know,you don't want to turn anybody
away. Because it's, it's really,you know, a life or death
situation for some people.
Caroline Amos (04:00):
No kidding. Yeah.
Well, when when did all thisstart? How long ago? Did you
start doing this?
Harriet Diamantidis (04:05):
So on January 10, I made my post that
was the night before you couldstart making appointments. And
that was my grandma's 96. So Iobviously, you know, for her if
she got COVID, it could be adeadly situation. Oh, yeah.
reading all about what youneeded to do and what the
process was to get theappointment. So in a sense, I
(04:27):
was a little bit ahead of thecurve. Because I was reading,
you know, where did you need togo? What were the websites?
What, you know, what was theeligibility requirements? Where
were you able to get anappointment? So I was reading
what forms Did you need to fillout? So a lot of people, you
know, didn't know thatinformation yet. I was sort of
obsessively reading about it.
And so January 11, is when youcould get online and make an
(04:50):
appointment. So midnight, I wasthere on the internet, getting
her an appointment. So January11 is when anybody 70 Five and
above could start bookingappointments. And so that
between January 11, and January14, is when we were booking
appointments for people. And onJanuary 14, that's when the
(05:10):
vaccine shortage hit. And afterthat, it was near impossible.
That's when appointments are toget cancelled. And that's when
appointments are to getrescheduled. And from that point
onward, it's been nearimpossible for people to get
appointments to this very day.
(05:30):
We have barely been able to helppeople because it's near
impossible to get anappointment.
Raymond McAnally (05:36):
Because I believe the couple that was
featured, I believe in both theNew York Times article and your
segment with Lester Holt theGoldberg Goldberg Yeah, it was a
situation where it was some sortof last minute they they had
extra vaccine or something. Idon't quite remember the
(06:00):
logistics of that. Was that justtoo simple? We got you an
appointment. Here's where youshow up, or was that something
new caused by the shortage?
Harriet Diamantidis (06:08):
So they were concerned that their
appointment might get canceled?
Luckily for them, there's didn'tbut ironically, my mother and
grandmother's appointments gotcancelled and rescheduled
Caroline Amos (06:21):
because of the shortage, the shortage?
Harriet Diamantidis (06:23):
No, that's the irony is that I the first
people I got appointments forwere my mom and grandmother and
their appointments got cancelledand rescheduled. The Goldbergs
were very concerned that there'sget cancelled, but they they
didn't. I think what you'rereferring to, though, is that
some sites have had vaccinesthat were about to expire. So
(06:47):
when a vaccine is about toexpire, because sometimes, you
know, they have to be kept coldup until a certain point and
when there are no expire, somesites will use those vaccines
and open up the eligibility toanybody at age that can get
there within the timeframe.
Raymond McAnally (07:05):
That is what I'm thinking about. Because here
in Los Angeles, that is a bigdeal. We are at least our county
protocols, I'm not sure if it'sstatewide or not. They are
simply age restricted. So itdoesn't matter if you have a pre
existing condition, it doesn'tmatter. Anything other than age.
So folks who are severelyimmunocompromised in their
(07:28):
20s 30s 40s, they're going to bewaiting quite a while unless we
figure out a way to to speedthis up.
Harriet Diamantidis (07:35):
See, I think in New York, they are
opening up that eligibility topeople who are compromised this
week, not this week, next weekon the 15th February 15. I read
that they're opening up thatFebruary 15. So hopefully, Los
Angeles or California will be
Raymond McAnally (07:52):
coming up. So I think everybody's figuring it
out on the local level. Butthat's what I love that you're
so informed because you've beenso kind of in the middle of all
this, that's I can relate quitea bit to that instinct of I grew
up around a lot of older adults,my parents were 40 when I was
(08:14):
born. And so with thetechnology, especially like I I
would love to have a technologyconversation with my mom now
because she's no longer with us.
But at the time, it could pushmy buttons, so she never
understood the concept of theinternet. She thought it was on
her computer. She thought herGmail on her phone was a
different Gmail. I used to haveto remind myself all the time
(08:37):
that that this is a person who,despite being highly
intelligent, like she, she wasborn in 1939. She remembers she
remembers calling and tellingthe operator what phone number
you want to call, you know whatperson in town you want to call.
I even have some old letters ofher because she was um, she was
(09:00):
Miss Tennessee. And so yeah, andso we have all these in 1958
sheet, we have all thesewonderful letters from around
the country. And even someinternational that all it said
was her name. And her streetaddress and the town. There was
no zip code. We can't evenimagine that level of like so
(09:23):
from going from that. And youryour grandmother's would be 14
years older than my mom would betoday. So these folks have seen
some major major changes, so Idon't fault them for not being
up with times. I know
Harriet Diamantidis (09:43):
my mom once asked me, you know, I told her,
you know, she had to go into theapp store to you know, buy
something for her phone. And shewas like, Well, where is that?
Is that on Avenue? You inBrooklyn? You know? Yeah, I
would always laugh Her but Ithink in COVID times, now, I
(10:03):
almost, you know, feel sorry forthem. Because now, you know, it
always was funny. And now in atime like this, it's, it's
actually a crisis, you know. Andso
Caroline Amos (10:14):
it's actually it's a matter of life or death
right now, actually. And it'sreally, really a scary time to
be thinking about those things.
Thank God that your grandma andyour mom have you.
Harriet Diamantidis (10:25):
I know. But you know, they'll tell you that
I'm a real pain most of the timewas not a pain.
Caroline Amos (10:37):
It's really encouraging to hear you talk
about, you know, wanting to takecare of your grandma wanting to
take care of your mom, when youwere doing the research to get
them the vaccine, where do youbegin?
Harriet Diamantidis (10:48):
So I really began online. But what I would
tell you is that a lot ofmisinformation is out there. And
so I've learned that a lot ofwhat I read was incorrect. So
I'll give you an example. I waspre registering, I pre
registered, my mom and grandmaat first, and I learned
(11:10):
afterwards that there was noneed to pre register. So I found
a pre registration form on NewYork State's website, and I
filled it out. And later Ilearned No, you didn't need to
pre register. So that was amisstep that I took you. So my
point is that there's so muchmisinformation out there. And
(11:32):
part of that problem is thatnobody knows what's what, you
know, yeah, well out, you know,you go on the site, you think
you're doing the right thing,and you don't necessarily,
you're not necessarily doing theright thing. Really, all I had
to do was go on the site andsearch for an appointment, then
you go on Facebook, and you readwhat people are saying. And for
(11:55):
example, one of one of the bigthings was you, I thought you
could go anywhere to get anappointment, you could travel
anywhere to get an appointment.
Apparently, that's not true. Youhave to, you know, go within a
certain parameter to get anappointment. And that's
parameter of like, of where youare, where you live. So and
again, this is I'm not even surewhat the answer is. So when you
(12:19):
go online, and you Google andyou read articles, you I
understood it, that you could goanywhere, you could travel
anywhere to get an appointment.
So if you live in Long Island, Ithought you could go anywhere to
get an appointment, whether thatmeans Manhattan, or
Manhattan, Queens. But now I'mreading that if you live in Long
(12:42):
Island, you can only get avaccine within Long Island.
Raymond McAnally (12:45):
Whoa, how are they are they checking if your
local resident through your IDor
Harriet Diamantidis (12:52):
so at the vaccine site, they check your
ID. So you would think that ifthey're checking your ID, and
you you're able to get thevaccine, that's okay. But
apparently, now I'm reading thatyou can only go if you live
within the five boroughs, youcan only get a vaccine within
New York State five boroughs.
And if you live within LongIsland, you can only get a
(13:15):
vaccine within Long Island. Andthere's so much confusion with
this rollout. And they reallybelieve that they should have
signs in every local departmentstore in every store with
instructions of where you needto go and what you need to do.
And I believe they should havecommercials that are running
(13:37):
every half hour that are tellingpeople this is the website, this
is where you need to go. I thinkthat people don't know what
they're supposed to be doing.
And that's the problem. And theycall me. They don't know what
where to go or what to do. Andeven me, and I read about it.
And I get confused myselfbecause I say, Oh, I thought
(14:00):
that you could go anywherewithin New York State. But you
can't
Caroline Amos (14:04):
know if you could. For our listeners, I know
you may not be the expert, butyou probably have a lot more
information that a lot of us do.
If you could maybe outline somesimple steps so people know
where to get started. I'm askingselfishly because I'd like to
get started. So if
Harriet Diamantidis (14:24):
and again, I've only recently learned these
new rules. If you live withinthe five boroughs. You should go
on the NYC you should googlebecause it'll make it simpler.
The NYC vaccine finder and youtype in your zip code and a list
of locations will come up thatare closest to you. And you
(14:46):
click on the first the firstlocation that comes out. And
right then in there, it willlink you where you can click a
button. You can click a buttonthat will say schedule your
first dose and then from thereit will ask you You to certify
that you don't have allergies.
Because you know, obviously,well, not obviously. But you may
have read in the news that ifyou have severe allergies, you
(15:10):
could possibly have a reactionto the COVID, right. So it will
ask you to certify if you haveany severe allergies, and then
you type in your name. And rightaway, you can put in a zip code
and try to book an appointment.
My first tip to people is, ifyou're not having luck with your
(15:31):
exact zip code, start lookingunder other zip codes, I find
that that's helpful. I'm lookingunder other zip codes, if you're
not finding anything underyours, look under random towns,
I find that that sometimeschange it up. And just keep
going keep refreshing your page.
My other favorite tip is goonline at really random times.
(15:54):
Really, really early in themorning or really, really late
at night, or at dinner time. Oryou want to compete with less
people. So if you look pendingin most people are looking for
an appointment at 10am 11am mostpeople are looking for an
appointment. But Saturday nightat eight o'clock most people are
(16:16):
out. Well not out but mostpeople are, you know, doing, you
know,
Caroline Amos (16:22):
we can hope that they're not out I mean, deadly
pandemic rather than
Harriet Diamantidis (16:27):
doing something other than looking for
an appointment. So
Raymond McAnally (16:30):
this reminds me of a friend of mine posted on
Super Bowl Sunday that like atkickoff, she was at the grocery
store. And she posted a picturethat she'd been planning this
for weeks. Apparently she doesthis every year that she goes to
the grocery store and Super BowlSunday so she can have the whole
place to herself.
Harriet Diamantidis (16:47):
Exactly.
Exactly. So for example, that'sa great point during the
Superbowl, I was looking forappointments, because I figured
so many people would bepreoccupied and I yeah,
Caroline Amos (16:58):
that's great.
It's really interesting. I livein a story. And I was reading
that if you want to secure anysort of COVID test, the best
time to do it is at midnight,because that's when the whole
thing refreshes. And now thatI've said this, everybody that
listens is going to take all myspots to get COVID tests, and
that's totally fine. I just hopeeveryone's being safe. Yep.
Harriet Diamantidis (17:21):
I've heard a rumor that it's the same with
appointments. I've heard a rumorthat it's at midnight that they
refresh as well. Yeah.
Raymond McAnally (17:29):
Okay. That's a great tip.
Caroline Amos (17:32):
Yeah, I really want to turn all of this into
like an infographic and be like,these are Harriet's tips for
getting vaccinated.
Harriet Diamantidis (17:39):
I've heard that they refresh at midnight.
That's why sometimes I'll go onat midnight or 2am. Although
lately, it's been impossible.
But Yep, midnight, 2am 5am. Goon at random times when
everybody else is busy.
Caroline Amos (17:56):
That is so great to know. Your story is so unique
in that you have been takingyour time and energy and
resources to help other people.
And I think that's just sophenomenal of you.
Raymond McAnally (18:14):
Yes.
Caroline Amos (18:15):
Tell us a little bit more about like, you know,
what goes in your head to dosomething so, so selfless and
wonderful for other people.
Harriet Diamantidis (18:24):
To be honest, you, both of you,
anybody would do the same whenyou hear the people on the other
line, who call they are thesweetest. When you hear these
elderly people on the otherline, I swear it's not me.
Anybody would do what I'm doinghere, how concerned they are.
(18:46):
And last and, you know, when youwhen they call and I say you
know, what's your email address?
Or I'll say can you forward meyour verification email? And
they'll say, how do you forwardan email, you know, and they
don't know how to do it. And youwere I it's second nature, you
know, you know exactly how toforward an email, it's to us,
(19:07):
it's the simplest thing. And ifI played you want to their
voicemails, anybody's heartwould just open up and when you
can make an appointment, it'sactually very simple. It's a
five minute process. If therewere appointments, it would take
anybody five minutes. It's verysimple. If there were
appointments, and so in thebeginning when I was doing this,
(19:29):
it really wasn't difficult. Butnow it's difficult because
there's no appointments herethese elderly people,
Raymond McAnally (19:39):
it just
Harriet Diamantidis (19:40):
you guys who both do it to anybody would
and there was someone I did itfor the other day. It was
snowing here in New York, Ithink it was was it Saturday
where it was snowing.
Caroline Amos (19:51):
I think it was Sunday. It was really really
Harriet Diamantidis (19:53):
and for a while it was snowing pretty
heavy. And he works. He was anelderly man and he attacked In
he didn't speak much English.
And he works in a in a cleaners,and he had a lot of underlying
health issues. And he could hespoke very broken English and he
got my number through somebodyelse because a lot of it's word
of mouth. And he really neededthe vaccine, and I have a list
(20:15):
of people, but his case was sodire that I sometimes when it's
a dire case, I kind of, youknow, I'll let them move up a
little bit. And I have no ideahow, but by the grace of God, I
got an appointment for him. Andit was 12 o'clock, and he was
able to get an appointment thatday for 2pm. But it was snowing
(20:38):
really hard. And his appointmentwas far away from where he was
located. And, and I called himand I told him, and I said, I
don't know, if you're, you know,he was, I think he was he was at
two still working in a drive.
And I said, I don't know, ifyou're gonna be able to get
there, because where he neededto travel was over an hour away
(20:59):
in the snow. And he startedcrying, he said, No, I'm gonna,
you know, in his broken English,I'm gonna get there, I'm gonna
get there. And he got there inthe snow, there was like three
inches of snow on the ground.
And he'll always remember him, Iremember calling my mom and
saying, you know, I'll rememberthis guy, and wonderful. And
then his daughter called me tothank me. And it's the people
(21:21):
like that, who stick with you.
And like I said, I'm not doinganything that anybody else
wouldn't do. When you hear thosepeople, and they have the health
conditions. And, and, you know,that's why we're doing this,
because it's, it's the elderly,and I really feel like, you
(21:41):
know, they took care of us, youknow, and if you have a
grandparent that, you know,really was good to you. That's
why,
Raymond McAnally (21:49):
yeah, that's what I pick up on just just
getting to know you, in thisconversation that, you know, you
come from a strong family and sothat there's a sense of an
extended family here that onceyou talk to these people, they
they become people, they becomehuman. And just like your
family, you want to help themit. There's also something else
(22:11):
you said about that. It'sthey're finding you through word
of mouth. And that can be one ofthe biggest logistical issues of
reaching people who havetechnical problems is our normal
means of getting the word outFacebook and and all these
things. They're not network toit. They don't, their problem is
(22:34):
they don't know how to use it.
So how do you find them? I thinkit's wonderful that you're
willing to put your personalphone number out there, a whole
lot of people would would not becomfortable with that step of
it. I just think I just thinkit's so great. It reminds me of
I haven't even talked about ithere. But I work with 55 and
older volunteers here in LosAngeles, I recruit and manage
(22:59):
help manage events for thatdemographic, as part of a grant,
a national grant. And yeah, witha nonprofit called Le works that
does amazing work. I love beingassociated with this
organization. So I'veexperienced to what you're
talking about with with you getthe person on the phone, and
(23:23):
maybe you've gotten afrustrating email, you know, an
email that sounds a little like,whoa, I'm helping volunteers.
Why are you Why are you mad atme? Right? And then you talk to
the person and you realize it'sjust they're just so frustrated.
I don't know. We're recordingthis on February 10. And the
biggest viral video ofyesterday, which gave me so much
(23:45):
joy was the lawyer couldn't getthe cat filter.
Caroline Amos (23:51):
On my god that guy was so funny.
Raymond McAnally (23:55):
It is I want to use it when I teach it is a
study it is a study in perfecttiming. And it just like
everything from the from the catface looking down at the very
beginning and exasperation tothis little sigh he does at the
end he says he says I'm not acat. I'm just this like little
like frustrated. Almostlaughing. I hope you find this
(24:17):
funny to judge kind of laugh. Ohmy gosh, I've listened. I've
watched it and listen to it atleast 50
Harriet Diamantidis (24:23):
so darling.
Raymond McAnally (24:26):
But that's a good example. A friend of mine
pointed out that's a greatexample of like, a lot of
people's level of frustrationwith technology right now, a
minute. It's funny that it canfilter in front of a judge, but
but it's that in a way that'swhat you're dealing with. You're
dealing with folks who they geton to do the simplest task to
(24:50):
forward an email and it shutsdown their computer. They don't
know what they pushed.
Caroline Amos (24:59):
Oh my god. My, in the past year of this pandemic,
I got both of my grandma's iPadsso they could FaceTime us. And
when I was home, I, you know,the family, we presented my
grandma Norma with her iPad. AndI showed her how to plug it in
to charge it. And she came outone night, and she said that the
(25:21):
plug isn't working, I can't, Ican't plug it into the charger.
And I said, Oh, and I came overto it. And my grandma with Hulk
like strength had ripped the endof the charger off. And it was
just lodged and stuck in heriPad.
Raymond McAnally (25:42):
And how in the world
Caroline Amos (25:44):
I don't know, like, my sweet little grandma
was tinier than I am. Andgentler, you know, literally
wouldn't kill if Lee had rippedthe end of the charger off of
the I couldn't believe it. Itwas so funny. But bless her,
thank god, she's living with myparents right now. So they can
assist in all of her chargingneeds. I don't want her to touch
(26:06):
another charger ever again.
Raymond McAnally (26:12):
We've mentioned it but we have you
haven't explicitly said whatyou're able to do now with
appointments being so hard tofind, or our guests are not up
back up and running? Have you?
Because nobody would fault youfor saying I did this for a
week? And then I was done? Idon't know if you're still doing
(26:32):
it. But it sounds like you arewhat are you able to do now to
help people.
Harriet Diamantidis (26:38):
So I have a lot of people who are messaging
me and calling me and throughword of mouth. You know, I get a
lot of messages on Facebook, oryou know, phone calls, I have a
few articles that were written.
And then the reporter will say,you know, people are asking for
your phone number, can I give itto them? And I say yes. And I
started off by telling everyperson, it's very difficult
right? Now send me yourinformation. And I have an Excel
(27:00):
spreadsheet with all of theirinfo. And I look every single
day, it's very difficult. Butwhat I'm trying to do now what I
think the solution is, is I'mcalling local pharmacies, not
CVS or Walgreens because thoseare obviously you know, slammed
with people. I'm trying to alocal mom and pop pharmacies who
are going to get the vaccine,and I basically explain I'm a
(27:25):
volunteer, and can I, basically,I have a list of eligible
people, you know, and everybodywho I deal with is elderly,
everybody is elderly, and notjust 65. And above the majority
I like to work with, I mean, Iobviously don't turn anybody
away, but the majority who I getour abs, you know, late 70s,
(27:47):
more on the, you know, olderand, and I'm, I have one
pharmacy in mind, who I have acall with later today where I'm
going to try to get arelationship with to basically
say I have all these eligiblepeople, can I please send them
directly to you. And I'm hopingthat they will be open to that I
(28:08):
don't know if they will, but Ihave all these people, I need a
solution for them. And that'sthe only thing I can think of
right now. Otherwise, I'm in thesame boat as everybody else, I'm
just going to stay up reallylate, wake up really early, keep
refreshing, and try to get themappointments, I'm not going to
stop. But I may just be, youknow, in the same boat. I mean,
(28:31):
the success I had in thebeginning was solely because I
was ahead of the curve. And Ijust had those five days of
getting appointments, becauseyou know, I was just a little
bit ahead of the curve. Andthat, and I right now I'm just
like everybody else, I don'tknow anything more than anybody
else at this point. So the onlyassistance I can offer at this
(28:54):
point is that, you know, I canfill out a form. And but I do
have these people that don'tknow how to so I'm just going to
get them appointments and andbut I won't be able to do
anything more than you know, getthem an appointment when
appointments become available. Iam hopeful because I believe
tomorrow, the retail pharmaciesare going to start administering
(29:17):
things, but their books solid.
So, you know, I just want tohelp these people. So I'm hoping
that this local pharmacy canhelp but I don't know if he'll
be willing to. So, you know, I'mjust going to keep calling local
pharmacies and maybe because ofthe publicity, you know, with
the New York Times article,they'll see that, you know, I'm
(29:39):
a real volunteer trying to getthese people who are eligible
appointments but not
Caroline Amos (29:46):
and you have you you have not been vaccinated yet
correct?
Harriet Diamantidis (29:49):
Nope.
Caroline Amos (29:50):
Do you have a plan for yourself?
Harriet Diamantidis (29:52):
I mean, not really. I'm going to try I have
severe asthma. So maybe whenthey open up the eligibility,
you know, for people preexistingconditions. But, you know, I'll
be in the same boat as everybodyelse just trying to get an
appointment.
Caroline Amos (30:09):
Well, this whole topic of conversation has gotten
me feeling so like warm andfuzzy inside. So thank you so
much. I always, I always love tosort of round out these
conversations with a question.
And I feel like every time we'vetalked to people, the answer has
been the same answer. But I'mcurious to know, what is giving
you hope right now.
Harriet Diamantidis (30:32):
What's giving me hope is, I really
strongly feel like the vaccineis our way out of this. And I
also really feel like 2020 hastaught us that we need each
other way more than we everrealized than we ever thought we
did. And everyone always says,people are always sitting in,
(30:54):
you know, their faces and theirphone and everybody's, you know,
always on their cell phones. AndI really feel like that is
changing. Because all anybodywanted to do when we were in
quarantine was, you know, seeeach other and, you know, people
were going for walks, they werestanding outside talking to each
other. And I do feel like welearned a lot from COVID. And I
(31:18):
know that for me, it trulytapped into my compassion, my
sensitivity. I think, so manypeople have suffered such
heartache. And last, and suchterrible things have happened.
And we all know people who havesuffered, whether you knew
(31:38):
someone that passed away, or youhad COVID, and suffered from it,
I think that we all have learnedso much and have, everyone has
so much more compassion. And Ijust think that the world has
forever changed, and all of usare forever changed. And I, I
just think that we're all betterfor it. I know, I probably sound
(32:00):
like such a mush. But that's whyI really think that COVID made
me such a better person. And Ithink that every person is
better for it. My husband says Isound like he always tells me
now that I'm like a flowerchild. But
I really do think thatit made people better. I think
that everybody walked away,everybody is going to walk away
(32:21):
with a better understanding forlife and for what we have. And I
think that the world is strongerand better for it. And we have a
better appreciation for thelittle things.
Caroline Amos (32:39):
That's beautiful, beautifully said. Beautifully
said. Hey, this is Caroline andRaymond. We wanted to say thank
you for listening to thisepisode and let you know that
there will be more every weekfrom now until we get fatigued
by it.
Raymond McAnally (32:55):
We're building out this podcast as we go. So
stay tuned for improvements onour website, our graphics and
video clips and just everythingelse. The time was now to tell
our stories so we're learning aswe go. We really do appreciate
Caroline Amos (33:08):
your interest in support. We truly hope that the
personal stories that come outin each episode can help build a
better understanding of COVID-19how it spreads and how it
affects us.
Raymond McAnally (33:17):
If you have a story or a question that you'd
like us to address in anepisode, please email us at
fatigued podcast@gmail.comthat's fa TIGU ed
podcast@gmail.com.
Caroline Amos (33:30):
Thanks for listening.
Raymond McAnally (33:31):
Bye
Hi, I'm Caroline Amos.
Raymond McAnally (00:01):
And I'm Raymond McAnally.
Caroline Amos (00:03):
And we are Fatigued. Before we begin this
whole story, I just want to sayafter reading the article about
you in the New York Times, theFred Rogers quote came to mind,
look for the helpers. I justthink that what you're doing is
(00:25):
so special. And Harriet, tell usmore about you what's going on.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:31):
My name is Harriet Diamantidis. And I have
been volunteering, signing theelderly up for the COVID
vaccine, so that they can getvaccinated for any elderly
person who is not familiar withthe internet.
Caroline Amos (00:45):
You absolute Angel,
Raymond McAnally (00:46):
You nailed that summary!
Harriet Diamantidis (00:48):
Oh, I was just gonna say Did I or not?
Raymond McAnally (00:50):
No, that was great.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:51):
I was awkward a little bit.
Caroline Amos (00:53):
No, you're good.
Harriet Diamantidis (00:55):
So I'm from Rockaway Beach, Queens. I don't
know if you guys have ever beenthere. But it's a little town in
Queens that usually most peoplehaven't heard of, although now
it's more popular. And I grew upthere, and my grandparents would
stay with us every summer. Andit's really my grandmother who
(01:15):
inspired this journey for me.
And so I was signing her up forthe COVID vaccine. And if you've
ever called My grandmother onthe phone, it's it's hilarious,
because she can barely use thephone. So you sort of have to,
you know, announce who you areabout 13 to hide, you know,
cutely hang up on you about, youknow, five times.
(01:41):
She's the best!
Raymond McAnally (01:42):
And is that just like a switch to cell
phones kind of thing?
Harriet Diamantidis (01:46):
Something like that. Exactly. So as I was
signing her up for the vaccineonline, I said, I couldn't help
but think about all the otherpeople in her age category. And,
you know, how are they going tomaneuver through this online?
You know, phase and you know, ifshe can't work her landline? How
(02:08):
was she? How is anybody going tofigure out this process online?
And, you know, people in her agecategory are obviously most at
risk for COVID. And I startedthinking about all the elderly
people, what were they going todo and the baby boomers, you
know, they use the internet, butthey're obviously, you know, not
as good at it as you know,someone like me, or you are and
(02:31):
so I just
Raymond McAnally (02:32):
I don't know, I know, I know, 40 year olds, 20
year olds can use the internetvery well.
Harriet Diamantidis (02:39):
It's a challenge. And so that's really
what inspired all of this forme. And so I made a post on
Facebook and instantly, so manypeople from all ages wanted
advice and needed help. Andthat's really how all of this
got started.
Raymond McAnally (02:56):
So you sent it out initially to your circle of
friends, or was there alreadysome group that was for this?
Harriet Diamantidis (03:03):
So I am a member of a bunch of public
groups on Facebook, from myhometown of Rockaway Beach, to
the town that I currently livein to the Upper East Side, mom's
group on Facebook. So naively, Iposted it in about seven
Facebook groups that had, youknow, a total of like, 100,000
(03:26):
members, and I really didn'tthink that so many people would
reach out to me, Oh, my God, Ionly thought, you know, maybe 10
people would need help, butright away, tons and tons of
people. I was overwhelmed withhow many people needed help. And
of course, I didn't want to nothelp anybody. So right away, you
(03:47):
know, Nico, and I Nico's myhusband, we were up till two in
the morning, you know, helpingpeople. And that's really how
this all got started. You know,you don't want to turn anybody
away. Because it's, it's really,you know, a life or death
situation for some people.
Caroline Amos (04:00):
No kidding. Yeah.
Well, when when did all thisstart? How long ago? Did you
start doing this?
Harriet Diamantidis (04:05):
So on January 10, I made my post that
was the night before you couldstart making appointments. And
that was my grandma's 96. So Iobviously, you know, for her if
she got COVID, it could be adeadly situation. Oh, yeah.
reading all about what youneeded to do and what the
process was to get theappointment. So in a sense, I
(04:27):
was a little bit ahead of thecurve. Because I was reading,
you know, where did you need togo? What were the websites?
What, you know, what was theeligibility requirements? Where
were you able to get anappointment? So I was reading
what forms Did you need to fillout? So a lot of people, you
know, didn't know thatinformation yet. I was sort of
obsessively reading about it.
And so January 11, is when youcould get online and make an
(04:50):
appointment. So midnight, I wasthere on the internet, getting
her an appointment. So January11 is when anybody 70 Five and
above could start bookingappointments. And so that
between January 11, and January14, is when we were booking
appointments for people. And onJanuary 14, that's when the
(05:10):
vaccine shortage hit. And afterthat, it was near impossible.
That's when appointments are toget cancelled. And that's when
appointments are to getrescheduled. And from that point
onward, it's been nearimpossible for people to get
appointments to this very day.
(05:30):
We have barely been able to helppeople because it's near
impossible to get anappointment.
Raymond McAnally (05:36):
Because I believe the couple that was
featured, I believe in both theNew York Times article and your
segment with Lester Holt theGoldberg Goldberg Yeah, it was a
situation where it was some sortof last minute they they had
extra vaccine or something. Idon't quite remember the
(06:00):
logistics of that. Was that justtoo simple? We got you an
appointment. Here's where youshow up, or was that something
new caused by the shortage?
Harriet Diamantidis (06:08):
So they were concerned that their
appointment might get canceled?
Luckily for them, there's didn'tbut ironically, my mother and
grandmother's appointments gotcancelled and rescheduled
Caroline Amos (06:21):
because of the shortage, the shortage?
Harriet Diamantidis (06:23):
No, that's the irony is that I the first
people I got appointments forwere my mom and grandmother and
their appointments got cancelledand rescheduled. The Goldbergs
were very concerned that there'sget cancelled, but they they
didn't. I think what you'rereferring to, though, is that
some sites have had vaccinesthat were about to expire. So
(06:47):
when a vaccine is about toexpire, because sometimes, you
know, they have to be kept coldup until a certain point and
when there are no expire, somesites will use those vaccines
and open up the eligibility toanybody at age that can get
there within the timeframe.
Raymond McAnally (07:05):
That is what I'm thinking about. Because here
in Los Angeles, that is a bigdeal. We are at least our county
protocols, I'm not sure if it'sstatewide or not. They are
simply age restricted. So itdoesn't matter if you have a pre
existing condition, it doesn'tmatter. Anything other than age.
So folks who are severelyimmunocompromised in their
(07:28):
20s 30s 40s, they're going to bewaiting quite a while unless we
figure out a way to to speedthis up.
Harriet Diamantidis (07:35):
See, I think in New York, they are
opening up that eligibility topeople who are compromised this
week, not this week, next weekon the 15th February 15. I read
that they're opening up thatFebruary 15. So hopefully, Los
Angeles or California will be
Raymond McAnally (07:52):
coming up. So I think everybody's figuring it
out on the local level. Butthat's what I love that you're
so informed because you've beenso kind of in the middle of all
this, that's I can relate quitea bit to that instinct of I grew
up around a lot of older adults,my parents were 40 when I was
(08:14):
born. And so with thetechnology, especially like I I
would love to have a technologyconversation with my mom now
because she's no longer with us.
But at the time, it could pushmy buttons, so she never
understood the concept of theinternet. She thought it was on
her computer. She thought herGmail on her phone was a
different Gmail. I used to haveto remind myself all the time
(08:37):
that that this is a person who,despite being highly
intelligent, like she, she wasborn in 1939. She remembers she
remembers calling and tellingthe operator what phone number
you want to call, you know whatperson in town you want to call.
I even have some old letters ofher because she was um, she was
(09:00):
Miss Tennessee. And so yeah, andso we have all these in 1958
sheet, we have all thesewonderful letters from around
the country. And even someinternational that all it said
was her name. And her streetaddress and the town. There was
no zip code. We can't evenimagine that level of like so
(09:23):
from going from that. And youryour grandmother's would be 14
years older than my mom would betoday. So these folks have seen
some major major changes, so Idon't fault them for not being
up with times. I know
Harriet Diamantidis (09:43):
my mom once asked me, you know, I told her,
you know, she had to go into theapp store to you know, buy
something for her phone. And shewas like, Well, where is that?
Is that on Avenue? You inBrooklyn? You know? Yeah, I
would always laugh Her but Ithink in COVID times, now, I
(10:03):
almost, you know, feel sorry forthem. Because now, you know, it
always was funny. And now in atime like this, it's, it's
actually a crisis, you know. Andso
Caroline Amos (10:14):
it's actually it's a matter of life or death
right now, actually. And it'sreally, really a scary time to
be thinking about those things.
Thank God that your grandma andyour mom have you.
Harriet Diamantidis (10:25):
I know. But you know, they'll tell you that
I'm a real pain most of the timewas not a pain.
Caroline Amos (10:37):
It's really encouraging to hear you talk
about, you know, wanting to takecare of your grandma wanting to
take care of your mom, when youwere doing the research to get
them the vaccine, where do youbegin?
Harriet Diamantidis (10:48):
So I really began online. But what I would
tell you is that a lot ofmisinformation is out there. And
so I've learned that a lot ofwhat I read was incorrect. So
I'll give you an example. I waspre registering, I pre
registered, my mom and grandmaat first, and I learned
(11:10):
afterwards that there was noneed to pre register. So I found
a pre registration form on NewYork State's website, and I
filled it out. And later Ilearned No, you didn't need to
pre register. So that was amisstep that I took you. So my
point is that there's so muchmisinformation out there. And
(11:32):
part of that problem is thatnobody knows what's what, you
know, yeah, well out, you know,you go on the site, you think
you're doing the right thing,and you don't necessarily,
you're not necessarily doing theright thing. Really, all I had
to do was go on the site andsearch for an appointment, then
you go on Facebook, and you readwhat people are saying. And for
(11:55):
example, one of one of the bigthings was you, I thought you
could go anywhere to get anappointment, you could travel
anywhere to get an appointment.
Apparently, that's not true. Youhave to, you know, go within a
certain parameter to get anappointment. And that's
parameter of like, of where youare, where you live. So and
again, this is I'm not even surewhat the answer is. So when you
(12:19):
go online, and you Google andyou read articles, you I
understood it, that you could goanywhere, you could travel
anywhere to get an appointment.
So if you live in Long Island, Ithought you could go anywhere to
get an appointment, whether thatmeans Manhattan, or
Manhattan, Queens. But now I'mreading that if you live in Long
(12:42):
Island, you can only get avaccine within Long Island.
Raymond McAnally (12:45):
Whoa, how are they are they checking if your
local resident through your IDor
Harriet Diamantidis (12:52):
so at the vaccine site, they check your
ID. So you would think that ifthey're checking your ID, and
you you're able to get thevaccine, that's okay. But
apparently, now I'm reading thatyou can only go if you live
within the five boroughs, youcan only get a vaccine within
New York State five boroughs.
And if you live within LongIsland, you can only get a
(13:15):
vaccine within Long Island. Andthere's so much confusion with
this rollout. And they reallybelieve that they should have
signs in every local departmentstore in every store with
instructions of where you needto go and what you need to do.
And I believe they should havecommercials that are running
(13:37):
every half hour that are tellingpeople this is the website, this
is where you need to go. I thinkthat people don't know what
they're supposed to be doing.
And that's the problem. And theycall me. They don't know what
where to go or what to do. Andeven me, and I read about it.
And I get confused myselfbecause I say, Oh, I thought
(14:00):
that you could go anywherewithin New York State. But you
can't
Caroline Amos (14:04):
know if you could. For our listeners, I know
you may not be the expert, butyou probably have a lot more
information that a lot of us do.
If you could maybe outline somesimple steps so people know
where to get started. I'm askingselfishly because I'd like to
get started. So if
Harriet Diamantidis (14:24):
and again, I've only recently learned these
new rules. If you live withinthe five boroughs. You should go
on the NYC you should googlebecause it'll make it simpler.
The NYC vaccine finder and youtype in your zip code and a list
of locations will come up thatare closest to you. And you
(14:46):
click on the first the firstlocation that comes out. And
right then in there, it willlink you where you can click a
button. You can click a buttonthat will say schedule your
first dose and then from thereit will ask you You to certify
that you don't have allergies.
Because you know, obviously,well, not obviously. But you may
have read in the news that ifyou have severe allergies, you
(15:10):
could possibly have a reactionto the COVID, right. So it will
ask you to certify if you haveany severe allergies, and then
you type in your name. And rightaway, you can put in a zip code
and try to book an appointment.
My first tip to people is, ifyou're not having luck with your
(15:31):
exact zip code, start lookingunder other zip codes, I find
that that's helpful. I'm lookingunder other zip codes, if you're
not finding anything underyours, look under random towns,
I find that that sometimeschange it up. And just keep
going keep refreshing your page.
My other favorite tip is goonline at really random times.
(15:54):
Really, really early in themorning or really, really late
at night, or at dinner time. Oryou want to compete with less
people. So if you look pendingin most people are looking for
an appointment at 10am 11am mostpeople are looking for an
appointment. But Saturday nightat eight o'clock most people are
(16:16):
out. Well not out but mostpeople are, you know, doing, you
know,
Caroline Amos (16:22):
we can hope that they're not out I mean, deadly
pandemic rather than
Harriet Diamantidis (16:27):
doing something other than looking for
an appointment. So
Raymond McAnally (16:30):
this reminds me of a friend of mine posted on
Super Bowl Sunday that like atkickoff, she was at the grocery
store. And she posted a picturethat she'd been planning this
for weeks. Apparently she doesthis every year that she goes to
the grocery store and Super BowlSunday so she can have the whole
place to herself.
Harriet Diamantidis (16:47):
Exactly.
Exactly. So for example, that'sa great point during the
Superbowl, I was looking forappointments, because I figured
so many people would bepreoccupied and I yeah,
Caroline Amos (16:58):
that's great.
It's really interesting. I livein a story. And I was reading
that if you want to secure anysort of COVID test, the best
time to do it is at midnight,because that's when the whole
thing refreshes. And now thatI've said this, everybody that
listens is going to take all myspots to get COVID tests, and
that's totally fine. I just hopeeveryone's being safe. Yep.
Harriet Diamantidis (17:21):
I've heard a rumor that it's the same with
appointments. I've heard a rumorthat it's at midnight that they
refresh as well. Yeah.
Raymond McAnally (17:29):
Okay. That's a great tip.
Caroline Amos (17:32):
Yeah, I really want to turn all of this into
like an infographic and be like,these are Harriet's tips for
getting vaccinated.
Harriet Diamantidis (17:39):
I've heard that they refresh at midnight.
That's why sometimes I'll go onat midnight or 2am. Although
lately, it's been impossible.
But Yep, midnight, 2am 5am. Goon at random times when
everybody else is busy.
Caroline Amos (17:56):
That is so great to know. Your story is so unique
in that you have been takingyour time and energy and
resources to help other people.
And I think that's just sophenomenal of you.
Raymond McAnally (18:14):
Yes.
Caroline Amos (18:15):
Tell us a little bit more about like, you know,
what goes in your head to dosomething so, so selfless and
wonderful for other people.
Harriet Diamantidis (18:24):
To be honest, you, both of you,
anybody would do the same whenyou hear the people on the other
line, who call they are thesweetest. When you hear these
elderly people on the otherline, I swear it's not me.
Anybody would do what I'm doinghere, how concerned they are.
(18:46):
And last and, you know, when youwhen they call and I say you
know, what's your email address?
Or I'll say can you forward meyour verification email? And
they'll say, how do you forwardan email, you know, and they
don't know how to do it. And youwere I it's second nature, you
know, you know exactly how toforward an email, it's to us,
(19:07):
it's the simplest thing. And ifI played you want to their
voicemails, anybody's heartwould just open up and when you
can make an appointment, it'sactually very simple. It's a
five minute process. If therewere appointments, it would take
anybody five minutes. It's verysimple. If there were
appointments, and so in thebeginning when I was doing this,
(19:29):
it really wasn't difficult. Butnow it's difficult because
there's no appointments herethese elderly people,
Raymond McAnally (19:39):
it just
Harriet Diamantidis (19:40):
you guys who both do it to anybody would
and there was someone I did itfor the other day. It was
snowing here in New York, Ithink it was was it Saturday
where it was snowing.
Caroline Amos (19:51):
I think it was Sunday. It was really really
Harriet Diamantidis (19:53):
and for a while it was snowing pretty
heavy. And he works. He was anelderly man and he attacked In
he didn't speak much English.
And he works in a in a cleaners,and he had a lot of underlying
health issues. And he could hespoke very broken English and he
got my number through somebodyelse because a lot of it's word
of mouth. And he really neededthe vaccine, and I have a list
(20:15):
of people, but his case was sodire that I sometimes when it's
a dire case, I kind of, youknow, I'll let them move up a
little bit. And I have no ideahow, but by the grace of God, I
got an appointment for him. Andit was 12 o'clock, and he was
able to get an appointment thatday for 2pm. But it was snowing
(20:38):
really hard. And his appointmentwas far away from where he was
located. And, and I called himand I told him, and I said, I
don't know, if you're, you know,he was, I think he was he was at
two still working in a drive.
And I said, I don't know, ifyou're gonna be able to get
there, because where he neededto travel was over an hour away
(20:59):
in the snow. And he startedcrying, he said, No, I'm gonna,
you know, in his broken English,I'm gonna get there, I'm gonna
get there. And he got there inthe snow, there was like three
inches of snow on the ground.
And he'll always remember him, Iremember calling my mom and
saying, you know, I'll rememberthis guy, and wonderful. And
then his daughter called me tothank me. And it's the people
(21:21):
like that, who stick with you.
And like I said, I'm not doinganything that anybody else
wouldn't do. When you hear thosepeople, and they have the health
conditions. And, and, you know,that's why we're doing this,
because it's, it's the elderly,and I really feel like, you
(21:41):
know, they took care of us, youknow, and if you have a
grandparent that, you know,really was good to you. That's
why,
Raymond McAnally (21:49):
yeah, that's what I pick up on just just
getting to know you, in thisconversation that, you know, you
come from a strong family and sothat there's a sense of an
extended family here that onceyou talk to these people, they
they become people, they becomehuman. And just like your
family, you want to help themit. There's also something else
(22:11):
you said about that. It'sthey're finding you through word
of mouth. And that can be one ofthe biggest logistical issues of
reaching people who havetechnical problems is our normal
means of getting the word outFacebook and and all these
things. They're not network toit. They don't, their problem is
(22:34):
they don't know how to use it.
So how do you find them? I thinkit's wonderful that you're
willing to put your personalphone number out there, a whole
lot of people would would not becomfortable with that step of
it. I just think I just thinkit's so great. It reminds me of
I haven't even talked about ithere. But I work with 55 and
older volunteers here in LosAngeles, I recruit and manage
(22:59):
help manage events for thatdemographic, as part of a grant,
a national grant. And yeah, witha nonprofit called Le works that
does amazing work. I love beingassociated with this
organization. So I'veexperienced to what you're
talking about with with you getthe person on the phone, and
(23:23):
maybe you've gotten afrustrating email, you know, an
email that sounds a little like,whoa, I'm helping volunteers.
Why are you Why are you mad atme? Right? And then you talk to
the person and you realize it'sjust they're just so frustrated.
I don't know. We're recordingthis on February 10. And the
biggest viral video ofyesterday, which gave me so much
(23:45):
joy was the lawyer couldn't getthe cat filter.
Caroline Amos (23:51):
On my god that guy was so funny.
Raymond McAnally (23:55):
It is I want to use it when I teach it is a
study it is a study in perfecttiming. And it just like
everything from the from the catface looking down at the very
beginning and exasperation tothis little sigh he does at the
end he says he says I'm not acat. I'm just this like little
like frustrated. Almostlaughing. I hope you find this
(24:17):
funny to judge kind of laugh. Ohmy gosh, I've listened. I've
watched it and listen to it atleast 50
Harriet Diamantidis (24:23):
so darling.
Raymond McAnally (24:26):
But that's a good example. A friend of mine
pointed out that's a greatexample of like, a lot of
people's level of frustrationwith technology right now, a
minute. It's funny that it canfilter in front of a judge, but
but it's that in a way that'swhat you're dealing with. You're
dealing with folks who they geton to do the simplest task to
(24:50):
forward an email and it shutsdown their computer. They don't
know what they pushed.
Caroline Amos (24:59):
Oh my god. My, in the past year of this pandemic,
I got both of my grandma's iPadsso they could FaceTime us. And
when I was home, I, you know,the family, we presented my
grandma Norma with her iPad. AndI showed her how to plug it in
to charge it. And she came outone night, and she said that the
(25:21):
plug isn't working, I can't, Ican't plug it into the charger.
And I said, Oh, and I came overto it. And my grandma with Hulk
like strength had ripped the endof the charger off. And it was
just lodged and stuck in heriPad.
Raymond McAnally (25:42):
And how in the world
Caroline Amos (25:44):
I don't know, like, my sweet little grandma
was tinier than I am. Andgentler, you know, literally
wouldn't kill if Lee had rippedthe end of the charger off of
the I couldn't believe it. Itwas so funny. But bless her,
thank god, she's living with myparents right now. So they can
assist in all of her chargingneeds. I don't want her to touch
(26:06):
another charger ever again.
Raymond McAnally (26:12):
We've mentioned it but we have you
haven't explicitly said whatyou're able to do now with
appointments being so hard tofind, or our guests are not up
back up and running? Have you?
Because nobody would fault youfor saying I did this for a
week? And then I was done? Idon't know if you're still doing
(26:32):
it. But it sounds like you arewhat are you able to do now to
help people.
Harriet Diamantidis (26:38):
So I have a lot of people who are messaging
me and calling me and throughword of mouth. You know, I get a
lot of messages on Facebook, oryou know, phone calls, I have a
few articles that were written.
And then the reporter will say,you know, people are asking for
your phone number, can I give itto them? And I say yes. And I
started off by telling everyperson, it's very difficult
right? Now send me yourinformation. And I have an Excel
(27:00):
spreadsheet with all of theirinfo. And I look every single
day, it's very difficult. Butwhat I'm trying to do now what I
think the solution is, is I'mcalling local pharmacies, not
CVS or Walgreens because thoseare obviously you know, slammed
with people. I'm trying to alocal mom and pop pharmacies who
are going to get the vaccine,and I basically explain I'm a
(27:25):
volunteer, and can I, basically,I have a list of eligible
people, you know, and everybodywho I deal with is elderly,
everybody is elderly, and notjust 65. And above the majority
I like to work with, I mean, Iobviously don't turn anybody
away, but the majority who I getour abs, you know, late 70s,
(27:47):
more on the, you know, olderand, and I'm, I have one
pharmacy in mind, who I have acall with later today where I'm
going to try to get arelationship with to basically
say I have all these eligiblepeople, can I please send them
directly to you. And I'm hopingthat they will be open to that I
(28:08):
don't know if they will, but Ihave all these people, I need a
solution for them. And that'sthe only thing I can think of
right now. Otherwise, I'm in thesame boat as everybody else, I'm
just going to stay up reallylate, wake up really early, keep
refreshing, and try to get themappointments, I'm not going to
stop. But I may just be, youknow, in the same boat. I mean,
(28:31):
the success I had in thebeginning was solely because I
was ahead of the curve. And Ijust had those five days of
getting appointments, becauseyou know, I was just a little
bit ahead of the curve. Andthat, and I right now I'm just
like everybody else, I don'tknow anything more than anybody
else at this point. So the onlyassistance I can offer at this
(28:54):
point is that, you know, I canfill out a form. And but I do
have these people that don'tknow how to so I'm just going to
get them appointments and andbut I won't be able to do
anything more than you know, getthem an appointment when
appointments become available. Iam hopeful because I believe
tomorrow, the retail pharmaciesare going to start administering
(29:17):
things, but their books solid.
So, you know, I just want tohelp these people. So I'm hoping
that this local pharmacy canhelp but I don't know if he'll
be willing to. So, you know, I'mjust going to keep calling local
pharmacies and maybe because ofthe publicity, you know, with
the New York Times article,they'll see that, you know, I'm
(29:39):
a real volunteer trying to getthese people who are eligible
appointments but not
Caroline Amos (29:46):
and you have you you have not been vaccinated yet
correct?
Harriet Diamantidis (29:49):
Nope.
Caroline Amos (29:50):
Do you have a plan for yourself?
Harriet Diamantidis (29:52):
I mean, not really. I'm going to try I have
severe asthma. So maybe whenthey open up the eligibility,
you know, for people preexistingconditions. But, you know, I'll
be in the same boat as everybodyelse just trying to get an
appointment.
Caroline Amos (30:09):
Well, this whole topic of conversation has gotten
me feeling so like warm andfuzzy inside. So thank you so
much. I always, I always love tosort of round out these
conversations with a question.
And I feel like every time we'vetalked to people, the answer has
been the same answer. But I'mcurious to know, what is giving
you hope right now.
Harriet Diamantidis (30:32):
What's giving me hope is, I really
strongly feel like the vaccineis our way out of this. And I
also really feel like 2020 hastaught us that we need each
other way more than we everrealized than we ever thought we
did. And everyone always says,people are always sitting in,
(30:54):
you know, their faces and theirphone and everybody's, you know,
always on their cell phones. AndI really feel like that is
changing. Because all anybodywanted to do when we were in
quarantine was, you know, seeeach other and, you know, people
were going for walks, they werestanding outside talking to each
other. And I do feel like welearned a lot from COVID. And I
(31:18):
know that for me, it trulytapped into my compassion, my
sensitivity. I think, so manypeople have suffered such
heartache. And last, and suchterrible things have happened.
And we all know people who havesuffered, whether you knew
(31:38):
someone that passed away, or youhad COVID, and suffered from it,
I think that we all have learnedso much and have, everyone has
so much more compassion. And Ijust think that the world has
forever changed, and all of usare forever changed. And I, I
just think that we're all betterfor it. I know, I probably sound
(32:00):
like such a mush. But that's whyI really think that COVID made
me such a better person. And Ithink that every person is
better for it. My husband says Isound like he always tells me
now that I'm like a flowerchild. But
I really do think thatit made people better. I think
that everybody walked away,everybody is going to walk away
(32:21):
with a better understanding forlife and for what we have. And I
think that the world is strongerand better for it. And we have a
better appreciation for thelittle things.
Caroline Amos (32:39):
That's beautiful, beautifully said. Beautifully
said. Hey, this is Caroline andRaymond. We wanted to say thank
you for listening to thisepisode and let you know that
there will be more every weekfrom now until we get fatigued
by it.
Raymond McAnally (32:55):
We're building out this podcast as we go. So
stay tuned for improvements onour website, our graphics and
video clips and just everythingelse. The time was now to tell
our stories so we're learning aswe go. We really do appreciate
Caroline Amos (33:08):
your interest in support. We truly hope that the
personal stories that come outin each episode can help build a
better understanding of COVID-19how it spreads and how it
affects us.
Raymond McAnally (33:17):
If you have a story or a question that you'd
like us to address in anepisode, please email us at
fatigued podcast@gmail.comthat's fa TIGU ed
podcast@gmail.com.
Caroline Amos (33:30):
Thanks for listening.
Raymond McAnally (33:31):
Bye
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