California looking for vaccine volunteers; 'payment' could be inoculation
Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, Calif. - The state of California is looking for vaccine volunteers and the payment for working a shift is that you'll possibly get inoculated yourself.
Last week, the state launched MyTurnVolunteer, hoping to find people to be greeters, vaccine verifiers and maybe even direct traffic at COVID vaccination sites.
The state is looking for medical and general support teams.
Medical volunteers include physicians, surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, nursing students, medical assistants, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, paramedics, EMTs, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, and medical and pharmacy students.
Medical volunteers must have current licensure or certification, no history of disciplinary actions for their practice, and undergo required training.
General volunteers must be over 18 years old, have a government-issued identification card, and undergo training.
General volunteers can help with vaccination operations by greeting attendees, sanitizing areas, controlling traffic, data entry, and more.
Anyone who volunteers for four hours is eligible to get the vaccine, as long as an administrator of the clinic gives approval, said David Smith, the director of #CaliforniansForAll initiative at California Volunteers, during the state’s community advisory committee meeting Friday.
Volunteer candidates can search for places to help by putting in ZIP codes closest to them. The database is for any site in the state of California.
However, over the last few days, it's been challenging to find openings. While there was a "medical" opening or two in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, there were no volunteer slots in Oakland.
A message comes up thanking you for offering to volunteer, but says that there is no location or shift "that matches your search right now."
