Ventura County woman helping friends, neighbors make COVID-19 vaccine appointments

Booking an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine can be tedious work, but one Southern California woman is trying to simplify the process for others.

In January, Andrea Bristol was curious about how to get an appointment to get vaccinated. After seeing how it worked on one website, the Ventura County mom reached out to a group of friends and asked if they knew anyone eligible for the vaccine that she could help get an appointment.

From there, she started booking them for their parents. Bristol has helped book appointments at a number of different locations not only in Ventura County, but in other parts of Southern California

Many of the people she helped are teachers.

"She said 'If you want me to help you, give me your info and I will just do it for you. It can be a tedious process of just hitting refresh over and over and over," one woman told Eyewitness News.

Bristol's neighbors say she's tech savvy and has the patience to do this. She's received thank-you cards from people she's helped, including some strangers who were referred to her.

One of her neighbors says she's very grateful that Bristol helped her father get vaccinated.

"My mom called me on her birthday when my dad had gotten his first vaccine and she said it was the best birthday present ever," said Jennifer McLeod. "And I was just in tears feeling so grateful and thankful for her help."

So far she's helped close to 150 people get vaccinated. Bristol says she'll keep on doing it as long as people ask for her help.