Family members feel helpless trying to get vaccine appointments for loved ones

It’s become a family effort to help those 65 and older secure a vaccine appointment. Children and grandchildren call and click from afar in hopes of getting answers.

People continue to experience long-distance frustrations during the pandemic.

Amy Royce has not seen her parents since before the pandemic began.

“The last time I saw them is over a year ago, so that’s really hard … I just want to get out and see them,” Royce said. “I want to fix this for them. I want to make sure I don’t lose my parents to this virus.”

From 1,500 miles away in Massachusetts, Royce has tried desperately to book vaccine appointments for her mom and dad, who live in Naples.

“I’ve been trying; my sister’s been trying; my parents have been trying,” Royce explained. “The system is just insane to me.”

Many people are experiencing similar frustrations as Royce and her family, and they are also trying to get the vaccine for their loved ones who currently qualify.

“It’s been very stressful,” Steven Kim said. “There were days when you felt like you were getting no appointments; you kind of felt let down a little bit, little disheartening. You felt kind of sad, and then you just felt the frustration that everybody else did.”

Kim lives in South Carolina. He told us he made hundreds of phone calls before finally getting appointments for his mom and stepdad at Publix.

“I just feel so relieved and so happy that she’s finally got something,” Kim said. “I just feel so bad for everybody else.”

Royce said she did get on Collier County’s wait list Monday morning, but she says she’s been on that before. She hopes she hears back this time around.

“I have to be missing something because how could I be working on this for this long and not be able to get them an appointment?” Royce said. “I will do anything to try to help them, but right now, I feel helpless. I feel completely helpless.”