COVID Vaccine Hunter Group Helps Connect People and Dose Online

Atlanta — The idea is that it is becoming more popular across the country. Social media detectives create virtual groups, COVID-19 vaccine..

Some groups were started to help older people and high-risk people navigate the sometimes confusing booking system, while others ensure that vaccine doses are not wasted. Created to do.

Here in Georgia, Ashley and Alicia Chen started their own group after reading about a similar group that started in New Orleans.

“It felt like there was an opportunity for people in need of the vaccine just because the deployment was as chaotic as it used to be, but it’s not always part of the CDC1A group. There is a spare vaccine. For example, to fill the gap, “Ashley explained.

Vaccine hunter group has appeared Minneapolis, With New Orleans Colorado.. There is an even bigger website, Vaccine Hunter.org, It helps people crowdsource information about appointments and “preliminary” doses.

Called Georgia Vaccine Hunters on Facebook, the group has 1,400 members and is growing, providing people with information about their plans and policies at various vaccine locations.

“My aunt was supposed to take her second shot today. Due to late weather, all appointments there will be reschedule, the news said. Rescheduling or canceled I haven’t heard from you. Does anyone know if I should contact her, or should I start thinking about making another appointment with her? ”

Another status: “Updated. Both my husband and sister, over 65 years old, were vaccinated for the second time in Kroger / Dalton today. There were no queues or reservations. To schedule the available apps. Please call me. “

Posts range from people asking caregivers about their eligibility to vaccinate to people living outside the state asking parents in Georgia for information to vaccinate.

Relation: Governor Kemp says the expanded vaccine eligibility criteria will be finalized “in the next few days”

“There are some success stories of people who put their names on the waiting list or in pharmacies,” says Ashley.

This group also posts information from people who have tried to get the “preliminary” vaccine, or doses that would be discarded if someone misses a promise. Companies like Kroger have implemented policies to provide vaccines to people in stores who meet eligibility requirements when the vaccine expires.

Chens moderates the page to eliminate false information and unethical posts. The couple team said they were unjudgmental, but made it a strict policy to remove “line jumpers” within the group.

“We are now not trying to access scarce resources in front of someone else who is more at risk and deserves vaccination. We are just trying to prevent the vaccine from being wasted. “Ashley explained. “Our idea is that everyone needs to be vaccinated, and if you can do it ethically, that’s our goal.”

Alicia agreed, “After all, if you find a vaccine, you’re not going to determine if you’re at the stage you should be.”

Paul Woople, director of the Emory University Ethics Center, recently said that medical professionals often face difficult situations.

“Am I throwing away a good vaccine that can protect people from potentially fatal illnesses, or give it to those who find it before it expires?” Wolp said. We consider it unethical to look for a vaccine before those who need it, but if a healthcare professional decides to give the closest person a vaccine that may expire. He added that it was a different situation. They can be found.

“If it’s offered to you because the alternative is wasting it, I think you have all the right to take that vaccine,” Wolp said.

According to the Georgia Public Health Service Approximately 5,800 times As of the latest number available on February 22, some of the vaccines were unused.

Of these, 2,464 times were described as “unnecessary after preparation” and 1,074 times as “appearing contaminated”.

An additional 1,130 people are said to have been damaged. And a smaller number, 236, was said to be missing or unexplained.

Ashley and Alicia said they had never seen an anecdote that people outside the eligible group would get a vaccine that was set to be wasted. Instead, they have seen more people get help for their loved ones who are having a hard time accessing information.

“Many of these sites are web-based, so you can’t answer and make phone calls or make reservations easily. You really have to schedule online,” they say. I did.

Neither Alicia nor Ashley have been vaccinated yet, but Alicia is eligible as a caregiver for the vaccinated widow’s mother. The two said they would like to have access to more resources in the end so that people could physically get vaccine appointments. They hope that as the process of obtaining vaccines becomes more streamlined and less doses are wasted, the need for their group will disappear. Until then, Private group Anyone can participate.