Twenty-eight-year-old Linda Macias could not prevent her mother, Maria Herlinda Olvera, 46, from dying last July from complications of COVID-19, so she decided she would do something to help prevent others from contracting the deadly virus.

A view of an empty Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine vial during a Cameron County vaccine clinic for vulnerable residents at Winter Haven Resort in Brownsville Friday. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)

Macias, a counselor at the IDEA schools campus in Brownsville, with assistance from the Cameron County Health Department and Winter Haven Resort, put together a vaccine clinic at the retirement community to get some of the city’s older residents and most vulnerable vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“I felt helpless. She (my mom) was super young. I always feel it’s important to advocate however I can help,” she said

Macias learned of the need of some of the most vulnerable unable to get the vaccine while visiting a warming center last month in Brownsville during the winter storm. She met an elderly couple staying at Winter Haven, who talked about them not yet being able to get the vaccine.

She said the couple stayed up-to-date when the clinics were going to be held via the newspaper but the couple said by the time they would arrive at the clinics, the vouchers and vaccines would be gone.

“They have no social media, no technology, no email….for me I forget there’s another population that can’t get a hold of things fast enough because everything is through social media nowadays,” Macias said.

She told the couple she would contact them when she heard of future vaccination clinics.

Macias said she kept thinking about the couple and reached out to Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. by email to see if there was any way the county could hold vaccine clinics for individuals living in retirement communities and other areas where the most vulnerable reside.

Her email was forwarded to the county’s health department and Health Administrator Esmeralda Guajardo reached out to her to see what could be done.

“She ended up calling me and said what do you have planned out….she said OK we can do it, we can do it on Friday,” Macias said. Guajardo contacted her on Tuesday.

Macias then contacted Cookie Ullrich, activities coordinator at Winter Haven, who let the residents know about the upcoming vaccine clinic. “She did an amazing job,” Macias said.

Loyce and John Gay, of York Springs, Pennsylvania, like to travel in their recreational vehicle and arrived in Brownsville early last week. They are a couple of residents at Winter Haven and were able to get their first Moderna vaccines last Friday.

Winter Haven Resort residents wait to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination from Cameron County Public Health Medical Assistants Friday during the first Cameron County for the vulnerable retirement community vaccine clinic in Brownsville. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)

“We were thrilled that we were able to get it because my daughter had been really bugging me about getting it and was upset,” that we left without getting it but it wasn’t available then, Loyce said. “We were very happy to be able to get it.” Loyce is 66 and John is 72.

Minutes after they received their vaccines the first thing they did was call their daughter. “She’s very happy that we got it.”

The couple left Pennsylvania in January. The couple said they followed safety protocols while making their way to Brownsville.

John said it will be between 28 to 41 days to get their second vaccine, so the couple will get the second vaccine when they return to Pennsylvania.

“I think it is prudent to get your vaccine. We haven’t been worried. That’s not our nature,” John said.

“We are also Christians and we also believe Jesus takes care of us and that’s why we are not fearful of things. We know God is in control of things,” Loyce added.

Macias said helping residents at Winter Haven brought her happiness because she knew she was doing something good to help others.

“Maybe, I wasn’t able to help my Mom because there was no help back then or at that time but today’s a different story. Today we have those resources and it’s just ensuring that it’s getting to those that can’t get to it and making sure that we are a service to them, too. Nonetheless, happiness comes in different forms and for some people happiness is a vaccine,” Macias said.


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