Meet Woodbridge's Vaccine 'Angel'

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Shelley Miller viewed cracking the online vaccine appointment system as a personal challenge.

It all started in early January, when this retired kindergarten teacher from Fords began searching for a coronavirus vaccine appointment for herself and her husband. She became so skilled at finding slots that she's now booked appointments for 149 New Jersey residents, many of whom she's never even met.

"I got (my husband and I) a slot at the beginning of March," Miller, 68, recalled. "I just knew I could do better than that. I kept looking and then I got us a slot in late February. I still knew I could do better. So I kept looking and finally found a whole bunch of appointments in late January at the Meadowlands."

Miller said she then called elderly people she knew and told them she could book an appointment for them.

Word spread from there: Family, friends and neighbors all started calling her, asking if she could book them a time slot.

But it wasn't until she started getting text messages from strangers that Miller realized just how badly she was needed.

"I call them my 'clients.' This was back in January and February, when vaccines were so hard to get," she said. "I started getting text messages from people I didn't know, can you help me? One was a woman in Flemington who asked if I could book her an appointment in between her chemo treatments. I had to help."

Miller had a fine-tuned system: "I would get up at midnight every night; I set my alarm for 11:58 p.m. I signed onto the CVS site on my iPhone, iPad and MacBook, all in front of me. Then I would count to three: One, two, three. You had to wait three seconds for all the appointments to load. Then I would enter the ZIP code of the town I wanted on all three devices and hit enter."

Her formula worked: Open slots would pop up and Miller would fill them in as fast as she could type. She usually had the biographical data of her "clients" in front of her. The Facebook group New Jersey COVID Vaccine Info was also essential for learning when new appointment batches would be released; that group has 138,000 members.

"Then I would wake up again at 4 a.m. to search a second time, when new appointments would be released," she said. "I would get them an appointment and create a very simple username and password so they could go in and change it. Then I would wake up at 5 a.m. and go to my son's house and babysit my grandchildren."

Woodbridge offers her a part-time job booking appointments

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said he heard "of this woman in Fords who was really good at finding appointments."

McCormac called her and asked if she'd like a part-time job doing this for the town.

Miller said no, but she was happy to help. Woodbridge was actually one of the first — and largest — towns in the state to realize that many older folks were at a complete loss when it came to booking vaccine appointments on their own. In mid-December, Woodbridge created a hotline seniors could call and give their information, and town "bookies" would book the slots for them.

The town of Woodbridge fed Miller information from that list.

"Our town is about 100,000 people and I would say 25,000 are senior citizens," said McCormac. "When I heard what Shelley was doing, I was amazed. Here was this woman waking up at 4 a.m.; I was dumbfounded someone could care so much about helping complete strangers. I told her this service is so valuable, I want to pay you. She said no."

"I would never accept money or payment for doing what I did," said Miller. "Yes, I've been called a vaccine angel many times. I've gotten some of the most beautiful Facebook messages and texts from people thanking me; it's been so rewarding."

One woman in her 70s sent a $50 store certificate. Another sent her an Edible Arrangement gift, and another a bouquet of flowers.

Miller said she herself has been brought to tears knowing she's helping people.

"One woman in her 80s comes to mind. She didn't have a cell phone, she didn't have a computer. I got her appointment, " she said. "I enjoy it. I didn't leave my house for three to four months during COVID. Now I had a purpose."

It must run in the family: Miller's husband, Craig Hollingsworth, volunteered himself for Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine trial this winter, as well. The couple laughed when they revealed that he was actually given a placebo and still had to book an actual vaccine appointment for himself.

Hollingsworth, 71, said he was thrilled to be part of science.

"It makes Shelley and I very happy we're part of the solution and not part of the problem," he said.

For his wife, it was all about the challenge: "I'm a little crazy, can't you tell?" she laughed. "I guess I'm a little OCD. If I couldn't find an appointment that was closer to where the person lived, I would get really upset with myself. I was just like, I know I can do better. It became a challenge."

Of course, these days, she has a lot more time on her hands — and a better night's sleep.

"There is no demand anymore. I heard they are now making announcements in supermarkets, 'Would anyone like this extra vaccine we have?' I still look and see on Facebook if people need help, but most don't."

McCormac said Woodbridge will be presenting Miller with a citizen's award later this spring or summer, when large groups can safely gather indoors again.

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