‘Dr. The founder of the B vaccine waiting list, Cyrus Massoumi, tells ‘Kennedy’ that Americans need to ‘make the most of every dose’
Despite millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being administered in the United States, some eligible Americans are still struggling to get vaccination appointments and receive their vaccines.
A newly launched web service called Dr.B is looking to change that by ensuring that no remaining vaccines are wasted. The platform, which has more than 1.2 million people on its waiting list, will send a text message when the remaining doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are available from a healthcare provider near you.
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Cyrus Massoumi, co-founder of Dr. B and former CEO of Zocdoc, the online medical appointment scheduling website, told FOX Business that about 20 to 30% of patients who register for COVID-19 vaccines end up canceling or not showing up. As a result, the thawed vaccine doses have six hours before being discarded.
Healthcare professionals with overdoses or who receive no-show appointments simply inform Dr.B how many doses they have and when they expire, while the platform tracks eligible patients.
“This is the most scarce resource on the planet right now and we will all not be safe until the whole world is vaccinated and it will take a few more years,” Massoumi told Fox Business’ “Kennedy”, “We just have to make sure we take advantage of the maximum each dose. “
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To apply, individuals must be 18 years of age or older, reside in the United States and have a phone number that can receive text messages or access Google Voice. Eligible individuals include those who have not yet received a dose of the COVID vaccine and who can receive the vaccine legally and clinically.
Dr.B will send an alert based on an individual’s vaccine availability, priority group and order of enrollment of people in their priority group. To determine a participant’s priority group based on state and local guidelines, Dr.B will ask for a phone number, name, email, postal code, date of birth, profession and health conditions.
After sending the text message, the participant has 15 minutes to confirm that he can reach the provider and then two hours to reach the location and take the photo. Once the consultation is confirmed, Dr.B will send the name and address of the provider, as well as instructions on what to bring, such as a photo ID.
Both Dr.B and the COVID-19 vaccine are free. Healthcare providers will charge insurers, Medicaid and Medicare, or resort to federal funds for the uninsured. Individuals may incur copayment at the time of service. Questions about insurance co-payments, deductibles or reimbursable expenses should be discussed with the provider at the time of the injection.
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Massoumi noted that Dr.B has already accumulated patient enrollments in all 50 states. While Massoumi expects to have 200 vaccination sites in 30 states in the coming weeks, Dr. B is currently working with only two medical service providers in New York and Arkansas so far.
He argued that solving the logistics problems with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is “the world war of our generation” and that although it is primarily a private sector initiative, it will take the public and private sectors of the United States, as well as the rest the world, to ensure that every dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is counted.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 95.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States as of Wednesday. More than 62.4 million Americans received at least their first dose, representing approximately 18.8% of the population, while more than 32.9 million were fully vaccinated, representing 9.9% of the population.
The United States has surpassed 29.1 million cases of coronavirus and 528,000 related deaths since the pandemic began a year ago, according to Johns Hopkins University.