SIGN OF THE TIMES

Trying to get an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine can, at times, seem like an insurmountable task.

After all, how many people know that Albany County releases appointments at 5 p.m., on Tuesdays? And if you are not sitting at your computer right at that time, the appointments will be gone in a flash. It is a daunting task for someone with a computer and nearly impossible for someone without one.

“Folks don’t have computers or aren’t computer savvy and I have seen so many people that get turned around and around and it’s very frightening for them,” said Maura Barrett, pastoral care associate at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar.

But Barrett, who also works as a senior care advisor and social work consultant, had an idea that you can say was divinely inspired. She saw how difficult it could be to get an appointment for herself and started working with her clients to get them appointments at the end of January.

“I felt this huge sense of urgency to help these people who can’t get access because I was in the 1A group because of my work and I struggled with it,” Barrett said. “It was very anxiety producing … I was trying to figure out how to organize this as a ministry and two people reached out to me within days of that and said, ‘I would be happy to help if there is some way to do it.’ It was like divine intervention, literally. I had chills and I knew this is what we were supposed to do.”

Barrett talked with Father Rick Lesser, pastor at St. Thomas, and with the help of 11 volunteers — specifically parishioners Tricia and Jay Buhr and Erin Reilly and her son, Connor — formed the Vaccine Sign Up Assistance Ministry. The ministry takes all the hassle and stress out of trying to get an appointment for the eligible parishioners, because once Barrett vets the person trying to get an appointment, the volunteers do the rest.

“Last week, I signed up six people and it was within a half an hour,” said Barrett, who estimates the ministry has booked appointments for 15 people so far. “I get the preliminary info via email, I give that to Tricia, the coordinator, and we see who is busy and who can take the case. They get the date (for the appointment) and I talk to the person again.”

And just like that it’s done! They even got a ride for a person who didn’t have a car through senior services in the Town of Bethlehem. Other parishes have taken notice and Barrett says she has talked with people at St. Pius X Parish in Loudonville and Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake.

“People must be thinking about this, wanting to do something like I was, and we have something that is working and I would be happy to share it with whoever would want it,” Barrett said. “People want to help. There are not a lot of in-person things but people are home on their computers and are willing to do it. … I get a rush over it!”

To contact Barrett about the Vaccine Sign Up Assistance Ministry, email her at [email protected]