TRENTON, N.J. (WCBS 880) — Getting a COVID-19 vaccine appointment is still a difficult task in the Tri-State, though it is getting easier as availability continues to open up.
At WCBS 880, we’ve heard countless stories of people trying to get their COVID-19 vaccines, with some going to great lengths to get their shot.
And months ago, we met Brett Stoelker who was helping hundreds of people get appointments for their shot and now estimates he may be responsible for getting tens of thousands vaccinated.
He runs the New Jersey-focused Twitter account @C19VaxxUpdates (or VaxxUpdates for short), and says when he started the account, he was just trying to help a few people and never expected it to take off.
“You know, this is a life-or-death situation,” he said.
Stoelker started the account 11 weeks ago and now has over 100,000 followers, many of whom are volunteers that are helping others find appointments.
“I had two sisters that [got appointments for] 400 people combined,” he says of his followers.
The Twitter account tracks dozens of New Jersey sites including state, county and local health care facilities, and when Stoelker sees new appointments pop up, or other useful information, he tweets it out.
He now believes his work has helped secure 20,000 vaccination appointments, which he thinks is “humbling.”
“I'm so proud of all of [the volunteers] out there,” he said. “It's exciting…it's a great feeling helping others.”
Stoelker was touring with a production of “Les Misérables” when the coronavirus pandemic hit and says running the account gave him a purpose during the shutdown.
However, he says he is excited to get back to work.
“It's going to be so great to get back to work and back to the stage,” he said.
But, Stoelker says he intendeds to keep updating the account, even when he returns to performing.
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