A Part of History

“You are all a part of history. You should be proud to tell your children and grandchildren about all you’ve done here.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked as a graphic designer for a New York real estate developer. Shortly after the pandemic began, the company took a financial hit, and they furloughed me.

Upon the vaccine's release, New York City’s Mayor Di Blasio created an initiative entitled Vaccine For All Corp. The objective was to not only get every eligible New Yorker vaccinated but also to employ 2000 New Yorkers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. That’s how I found myself sitting in an expansive gymnasium with over one hundred other members of the Vaccine for All Corp and a team of vaccinators.

I began working at my local Vaccination Point of Distribution, or POD, as a flow monitor. Flow monitors direct clients at the site through the vaccination process, from registration all the way to the post vaccination area where the medical staff observes them for adverse effects.

Specifically, I worked at the front entrance using the phrase Welcome. Follow the yellow markers on the floor and stay to your left, hundreds of times a day. They recently promoted me to the position of Flow Monitor Coordinator in the post vaccination area, where nurses observe the client after vaccination and we offer them their appointments for a second dose, if required.

Over the past four months, I’ve worked four 12-hour shifts every week - Thursday to Sunday. My day begins with me waking before the sunrise and ending around 8 o’clock each night. My fiancee and I live together, yet because of our vastly different schedules, we only see each other for about an hour every day before and after work. I have friends and family I have not seen in months. I’ve missed Mother’s and Father’s Day. I’ve worked through birthdays and the Fourth of July. It’s a grueling schedule and I end each shift, exhausted but content.

I’m content because I recognize that we are performing a significant task and because I work alongside some amazing people. It is the most diverse group I’ve ever worked with. We have employees from all over the world. On my five-person team, we have individuals from Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, and Belgium.

I’m the first to admit, it is not the most complex job when it comes to duties, and I am a minor cog in a tremendous machine, but it is an important job. In the spring, we were vaccinating approximately seven hundred clients a day. That number has varied over time, but by my estimation, we’ve vaccinated approximately 13,000 clients. That means I played a part in potentially keeping thousands of New Yorkers safe from the deadly virus. Prior to the vaccine’s development, New York was one of the heaviest hit states in the United States. I’m proud of the part I took in protecting my community.

I’m currently writing this while on my lunch break on my last day. The site is being taken over by a private company and I am being reassigned. New York is extending every Vaccine for All employees the opportunity to be certified as Community Health Workers. They will compensate us for the training, place us in a paid internship program and give assistance in finding a permanent position. I cannot convey how thrilled I am to have this opportunity.

I have consistently worked in a creative field, and a year ago I wouldn’t have considered working in public health but, this position changed all that. It has been the most gratifying job I have ever had. It has given me more confidence in my abilities. It has given me new friends and, most importantly, it has given me a new purpose in my life. Despite all of the hardships I endured, I am proud of the experiences I had in aiding my community during this moment in our history.

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