I Volunteered To Administer COVID-19 Vaccines. Here’s What I Saw During My Shift.

I Volunteered To Administer COVID-19 Vaccines. Here’s What I Saw During My Shift.

Note: All names and identifying details in this essay have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

When batches of COVID-19 vaccines first arrived in New York City, health care centers were seeking volunteers to help vaccinate. As a medical student in Manhattan committed to doing anything I could to facilitate the pandemic response, I signed up right away. 

What is typically an indoor running track became a makeshift site for COVID-19 vaccines. At 2 p.m., when I arrived, there was a line of people spilling onto the street: hundreds of them patiently waiting on a pea-green turf, double-checking their proofs of appointments, slightly nervous, their faces only partially visible behind their masks.

I was told volunteers were needed in the basement, an area designated for patients with accessibility challenges. So I went downstairs, dropped off my coat, sanitized my hands, and got set up.

My first patient was Maxine Gold, a retired teacher in her late 60s who traveled all the way from the tip of Long Island to be vaccinated.

“Ms. Gold, we'll be giving you the Moderna vaccine today. Do you have any questions before we get started?” I asked.

No questions at all. She'd been so excited to receive the vaccine