ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Benjamin Coney has a calm deliberate voice.
That voice serves to must the people on the other end of the phone line that he picks up several times a day.
Coney is one of the operators manning the phones at the St. Johns County COVID-19 hotline call center.
The phone bank runs out of the St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center, the same place where officials call the shots during hurricanes.
Now, the building is weathering a completely different storm: The COVID-19 pandemic.
Tuesday, the county issued text messages to thousands of residents regarding a new shipment of vaccines and registration scheduling. Moments later, phones in the call center lit up.
Just as soon as Coney hung up his phone, it would ring again, as did everyone else's phone.
The most often asked question from residents now: "How can I get a COVID-19 vaccine?"
"There's high demand and there's limited supply," Coney said. "The challenges and competition for apportionments is very stressful."
Coney and the 25 other operators have taken up to 5,000 calls a day. The predominant feeling he hears is fear.
Still, other callers are angry, a reality that Coney understands.
"This pandemic is deadly to certain people with underlying conditions," Coney said. "And they don’t know what to do with that."
Despite answering call and after call, some of the people on the other line are memorable. Some of those can even been an inspiration.
"A lady called me and told me that I am saving her life," Coney recalled. "She started crying. It was just very emotional that what I’m doing as a public service. For her, it was a matter of saving her life."
Coney understands that the person on the other end of the line may be frustrated or lonely. He and his colleagues can be a little voice of encouragement the maddest or saddest person.
"People respond to that," Coney said.
To schedule a vaccination appointment in St. Johns County, call 904-295-3711.