How to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment

One of the most frustrating tasks for many of us today is figuring out how and where to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccination. It can be a real exercise in exasperation: websites are often difficult to navigate and prone to frequent crashes; In addition, after finding an open appointment pad and filling out several pages of questions, you often hear that the vacancy has disappeared.

In view of all of this, we try to gather as much useful information as we can about ways to research and prevent vaccination appointments for you and others. We will update this as more information becomes available.

Research vaccination qualifications in your state

To start, it is a good idea to try to determine whether you or the person you are helping is currently qualified for the COVID-19 vaccine. Find the vaccine information site (or sites) administered by your state and / or city. This will also help you find out when you can be qualified, if you don’t already have it. If you can’t find it through a quick search, NBC News has created a simple website that allows you to find out what the current situation is in your specific state. The prescription company GoodRx offers similar information.

Find all the places that can offer appointments

Fortunately or unfortunately, there are many different websites where you can go to find out if you can make an appointment to be vaccinated.

For example, here in New York City, we had to navigate to different locations administered by the city and the state. Several hospital systems also have their own websites, as well as pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS, which recently started offering vaccination appointments. It’s a lot to check – and it can be extremely confusing.

As a result, your first step is probably to check your state government’s health website (searching for your state’s name and “COVID vaccine” will probably suffice). If you are an urban resident, also check your city’s information website.

Although most private doctors do not have access to vaccines, your doctor can indicate some of the places you should check. Other resources include your local hospital system, your union (especially if your job qualifies you for a vaccination) and, of course, friends and colleagues, many of whom are probably doing their own research.

When finding resources and sites, be sure to bookmark them. I keep a folder in my bookmarks bar called “COVID” – you may want to give it a more cheerful name.

Have all your information ready

Many of us who tried to register for vaccination appointments went through the experience of filling in several information screens to find that when we reached the end, the appointment was gone. Therefore, it is a good idea to have all your data – such as name, age, address, insurance information and website registration ID / password – immediately at hand. The faster you go through the registration process, the more likely you are to actually get an appointment.

Border colleague Cory Zapatka says he strongly recommends using a password manager, if you have one. He created accounts with all vaccination posts in his area, even if they did not have an appointment, so that if / when the time came he could fill in automatically and enter immediately.

And if you do get an appointment, make sure you have the proper paperwork on hand – especially since the appointments available can be last minute. The necessary paperwork may include proof of employment, proof of age or proof of a qualifying condition. Since the latter may require a medical certificate or other record, it is a good idea to call your doctor now – or if you have access to a doctor or hospital’s website, which can provide access to the evidence you need.

One more thing: check that you have received all emails that were sent to you by your vaccine provider. At least one member of the The Verge found a necessary consent form hidden in your spam folder.

Stay tuned for news from upcoming vaccination sites

Keep an eye on the news. More and more sites and hubs are being added as the United States prepares for a stronger momentum. If you see news that a hub is about to open, find the hub’s website and keep checking – as soon as it opens, the available slots will likely go away quickly.

One thing that sometimes helps is to look for patterns in the appearance of new commitments. For example, when I heard that the Walgreens drugstore chain was going to start distributing vaccines in my area, I spent a few days entering the site and suddenly realized that there was a pattern: the company was only scheduling appointments from two to four days earlier and was adding new appointments each day just after midnight. As soon as I understood the pattern, I was able to arrange meetings for some friends and inform others as well. (Note: since vaccine supplies and programming methods can change by a penny, this specific strategy may no longer work by the time you read this.)

Search online help

Several online resources are emerging, led by developers and other tech-savvy people, who have dedicated their time and effort to trying to understand this confusion. (Thanks to The Washington Post and The New York Times for some of these listings.)

• A New York site called TurboVax takes “the latest nominations from 43 vaccine sites administered by cities and states in the New York area” and posts them on Twitter. Followers who set their Twitter notifications to @turbovax you can quickly find out about recently opened appointment slots.
• Another, called NYC Vaccine List, uses a combination of scripts and volunteer checks to scour multiple sites for jobs.
• In California, VaccinateCA checks pharmacies and hospitals for information on open appointments.

• Vaccinate NJ also uses volunteers to try to help state residents find vaccination opportunities.

• Covid 19 Vaccine TX is a crowdsourcing resource for registering in local counties and finding locations where vaccines may be available.

• The MA Covid Vaccine Appointments website offers lists and links to websites with available times.
• A group of volunteers in Washington state launched the WA Covid Vaccine Finder as an aggregating resource for vaccination appointments.

By the way, if you are a developer and / or coder who wants to help, take a look at US Digital Response, an independent organization that, according to its website, “connects experienced and pro-bono technologists with local, non-governmental profitable organizations responding to the crisis. “

Davide Pischettola / NurPhoto photo via Getty Images

If you can, help others

One of the worst things about the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is that those who need it most are often the least likely to navigate the technology needed to get a consultation: older people, people with disabilities or those who don’t or don’t you can pay for computers and / or internet connections.

If you have the time and talent, get in touch with anyone you know who may not be able to make an appointment on their own. This can be as simple as finding phone numbers they can call to try to schedule an appointment, access the Internet and make an appointment for them or help them get to and from the vaccination site.

You can also see if there are any groups that are organizing help. The West Side Rag, for example, reports that a group of New Yorkers created the Vaccine Appointment Assistance Team (VAAT) to help their non-technically savvy neighbors navigate the process. (At the time of writing, due to the low supply of vaccine, VAAT had temporarily suspended its services.)

Look for leftover vaccine

While vaccines can last six months while being frozen, once thawed and refrigerated, the Pfizer vaccine lasts five days, while the Modern vaccine lasts 30 days. As a result, when people do not attend their appointments, some centers offer vaccines for those who do not qualify immediately, instead of vaccines that would otherwise be unusable.

However, running to a nearby pharmacy or vaccine center in the hope that there will be some vaccines waiting at the end of the day is not the most effective way to be vaccinated. (Also, getting hypothermia while waiting in the cold will not help.) At least one group is trying to improve the situation: a pilot project called Vaccination Standby says it will monitor providers in the U.S. for extra doses and text notifications for those whose ZIP codes are close to the site.

There are also local organizations that offer reserve lists. For example, Buncombe County in North Carolina has a vaccination waiting list and waiting list, as does the Monroe County Health Department in Indiana. Check your local government’s website to see if there is one in your area.

Be persistent!

Yes, it’s frustrating as hell, but keep it up. If a site fails, try again. If you miss a call, call again (and have a game, video or book ready to keep you busy while on hold). If you can’t find anything during working hours, try late at night or early in the morning.

Persistence can be one of the most important aspects of making an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccination. You may be tempted to give up, especially after hitting the “no appointments available” wall repeatedly. But until vaccine production is increased enough to cover more of our population and until distribution becomes more organized and easier to manage, simple stubbornness can be your best tool.

And I hope that this article and all the advice it contains will soon be unnecessary.

February 12 update at 11:10 am (Eastern Time): This article has been updated to include the WA Covid Vaccine Finder.