LI Teens Working To Help Book Vaccine Appointments For Residents

BAY SHORE, NY — Two Bay Shore High School students started a website to help Long Islanders find appointments to get their COVID-19 vaccine.

Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that starting on April 6 all state residents over 16 years old would be eligible to get the vaccine.

Since then, many have found it difficult to find the coveted appointment for the highly sought-after coronavirus vaccine.

On Long Island, there are five state-run vaccination sites at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, SUNY Old Westbury in Glen Head, SUNY Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Southampton Campus, and Jones Beach in Wantagh.

Several pharmacies including CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens are also offering vaccines at some Long Island locations and some temporary pop-up vaccination sites occasionally open up.

To help residents find appointments at these places, teens Noah Lika and Will Kurka started the volunteer program Long Island Vaccine Finders.

"We started this program due to the difficulty that has been experienced with obtaining a vaccine appointment," the duo wrote on their website. "After helping our family members obtain appointments that were within two weeks of scheduling, we decided to take it a step further; and also help those on Long Island who are at most risk find an appointment as early as possible."

The two are helping everyone who is eligible find appointments, but are prioritizing those who are over the age of 65 and/or have an underlying condition.

Residents can fill out a form and after submitting it, Lika and Kurka will work to find an appointment anywhere within three weeks. Once an appointment is created, the person who requested it will receive a confirmation along with a ticket from the NYS Health Department.

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