Boro Park JCC Streamlines Vaccine Process for Holocaust Survivors

By Yehudit Garmaise

 

   Since becoming eligible to get their COVID-19 vaccines this week, many senior citizens in New York City have found it difficult to register, make appointments, navigate crowds at mass vaccination sites, and get to where they need to be to get their shots.

    However, feeling that the city’s Holocaust survivors need extra help, care, and concern as they navigate a sometimes frustrating process of getting vaccinated, the Boro Park Jewish Community Council (BPJCC), the Boro Park Y, and Ezra Medical Center have teamed to up to make things easier, faster, and more pleasant for them.

   Not only is the BPJCC using the transportation service it offers to Holocaust survivors to get to wherever they need to go, to pick them up and bring them to and from their vaccination appointments, but the Ezra Medical Center, a licensed healthcare provider, starting Tuesday, will be providing thousands of vaccines to any Holocaust survivor who signs up with the BPJCC’s Vaccination Program.

     “Our Holocaust survivors are really, truly survivors,” said BPJCC CEO Avi Greenstein. “They need to be given one extra level of care and comfort, and what we are trying to do is making sure that they are treated nicely in the vaccination process. We want to give them special treatment.”

   “We are advocating on their behalf, and we are guiding them to get their vaccines, as quickly as possible, so that they can start to get over COVID and get back to enjoying their golden years.”

    All Holocaust survivors have to do to get rides and appointment to get vaccinated at the Ezra Medical Center, is to fill out an easy-to-use online registration form at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuMTgJkrwoQq_llOHnJMGQEPU832QUcJ0j8sbigHO5hSMvXA/viewform

   Holocaust survivors can also call BPJCC at (718) 972-6600, Ext. 4602. 

    After receiving phone calls and filling out online applications, BPJCC caseworkers will reach out to applicants, and help them to plan the times that they would like their vaccines and arrange transportation for them.

     The BPJCC’s vaccine initiative is just one of the many programs that the council has been providing for the Holocaust survivors in Boro Park over the past few years.

   “Our idea to be a Kiddush Hashem and not to let this population get left behind,” Greenstein said. “We want them to be treated with the care, love, concern, and warmth they deserve.”