Reserve a Covid-19 vaccine? More tools and tips, plus help from Apple, Facebook and Google

Can you blame me? As I detailed in a column a few weeks ago, in many states, getting a vaccination nomination is an experience somewhere between Vegas poker and the Hunger Games. The combination of poorly designed sites and few appointments will make you want to simply stay on a 15-mile long line on a freezing cold day with no snacks in sight.

Big tech companies are now helping in a small part of the struggle: finding vaccine locations. Earlier this week, Apple AAPL -3.39%

and Facebook FB -1.90%

joined Google GOOG -2.62%

in offering some new tools:

• Apple: On Apple Maps, you can now search for vaccine locations and see local results plotted. You can even ask Siri, “Where can I get Covid’s vaccination?” But it just prompts you to open the Maps app to see the results. Each location has an information card with the store’s address, time, telephone number and a link to the website. The information comes from VaccineFinder, operated by Boston Children’s Hospital, but Apple will also review submissions from other suppliers for possible inclusion in its database.

• The Facebook: Located in the Covid-19 Information Center of your Facebook application, you can now find a vaccine location search tool, also provided by VaccineFinder. On your cell phone, tap the three lines in the lower right corner, select See more and tap “Covid-19 Information Center”. In a web browser, click See more in the toolbar on the left and it should be listed. Facebook also launched an information center on Instagram, with information on the vaccine’s eligibility, among other resources.

• Google: Google Maps has been offering vaccine research since late January. In the app, search for “Covid vaccines” and you will get a list of locations that offer vaccines. In addition to contact information and opening hours, there is eligibility information. When you search Google for “Covid vaccine”, you will be taken to a vaccine page with details of how many doses have been administered in the country, recent news and other information.

It is useful – sorta. These tools tell you where the injections are being administered, but they don’t tell you if doses are available or allow you to make appointments, which used to be faster than a free sample dish at Costco before.

My previous column and video provided many technical tips and specific tools to help with this, specifically to make reservations at pharmacies like CVS,

Rite Aid and Walgreens.

I am thrilled because, since the publication, I have heard dozens of people who have managed to schedule appointments using these tricks. For those who wrote to say it’s crazy that we need tricks in the first place, I couldn’t agree more.

I also continued to make appointments for friends and family across the country and learned a few more things along the way. Here they are:

Facebook groups are your best friends. I never thought I would say that, but no feature has proved more useful than Facebook in this process.

Local group members post as soon as they see new appointments and usually answer questions. In several of them, they post when pharmacies are running with a lot of new appointments.

Not every city or state has a group, but those where vaccines are more difficult to find – Florida, Oregon, New Jersey, Philadelphia – can be very active. For example, moderators in the New Jersey group post screenshots of CVS openings almost daily, from 5 am to 6 am.

Within a Facebook group, go to the Discussion tab. Where “New activity” is written, switch to “Recent posts” so that you see the latest ones first and can jump to the availability of appointments.

Important security reminder: watch out for scammers. Do not pay anyone to make an appointment for you and do not share highly confidential information, such as social security numbers and passwords. In addition, misinformation about the vaccine is all over Facebook. When looking for information about injections and side effects, check for reliable news and medical organizations.

Try to find a photo. This site, started by MBA student David Newell, has become one of my favorites to research the location of pharmacies in a specific zip code. Unlike Apple, Google and Facebook, this site also lists availability – or at least tries. Things can change so quickly that sometimes the information on the website can be out of date.

Still, I keep the site open, which is updated on its own every four minutes. So, when I see an appointment available, I automatically launch the pharmacy website (and use the tips from my previous column).

Search for specific vaccines. Some people asked me to reserve the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine for them. If you are interested in getting a specific photo, you will have to do more legwork.

A good place to start is VaccineFinder, the Boston Children’s Hospital website used by major technology companies. When searching for zip codes directly on the website, he tries to search for the type of vaccine offered in specific locations.

When it comes to specific pharmacy websites, information about the vaccines offered varies. CVS specifies the type of vaccine available during the online booking process, but only when vacancies are opened. (A company spokesman says that each location offers only one type of vaccine.)

Rite Aid does not specify the type of vaccine, so I suggest calling the store to find out what it might have. Other networks I’ve seen offer the option when you sign up. For example, ShopRite’s online booking system allows you to sign up for Johnson & Johnson single-dose or Moderna two-dose.

Try a remaining vaccine. Some vaccine locations have unused supplies at the end of the day or do not show up for appointments. Instead of going to waste, services are emerging to take them to people struggling to find commitments.

One service, called Dr.B, works with local providers. Register on the website with your phone number and some other personal information, and you can alert yourself if there are extra doses in your area. It is probably not a way to skip the line. When you finish your registration, you receive a text message saying: “We prioritize extra doses based on the criteria of the local government and your order in line”. In addition, you will need to act quickly when receiving the text stating that a scene is available.

Vaccine Hunter is another group with a similar mission. It worked to establish different state groups on Facebook, which track and alert others about the open nomination of the vaccine and the excess availability of the vaccine. Check the groups for more local information.

– Parts of this article were previously published in the WSJ Tech Weekly newsletter. Wait, haven’t you signed up yet? Click here to do this now.

Write to Joanna Stern at [email protected]