VaccineFinder maps where vaccines are available nearby: Shots

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital and Castlight Health, is launching a new tool that will allow you to find COVID-19 vaccine providers with stocks of vaccines in which Americans live.

Michelea Abercrombie / NPR

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Michelea Abercrombie / NPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital and Castlight Health, is launching a new tool that will allow you to find COVID-19 vaccine providers with stocks of vaccines in which Americans live.

Michelea Abercrombie / NPR

The battle to secure reservations for the COVID-19 vaccine is chaotic and fierce. Not enough doses for everyone who is qualified and wants to get vaccinated. As frustration grows, the federal government offers nothing more than a guarantee that things will get better and calm.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is currently affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital Castlight Health, Launching New tool This allows Americans to search for COVID-19 vaccine providers that have vaccines in stock where they live.

Tools built on existing tools VaccineFinder.org The platform captures inventory data from vaccine providers nationwide.

In most states, initial launches are limited to specific providers — vaccinated providers Directly from the federal government.. In Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, and Tennessee, this tool displays all vaccine providers, including hospitals, clinics, and public health vaccination sites.

Residents of these four states can look up the city or zip code to find an interactive map of all the places where they are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and see where the vaccination dose is.

“The idea is to show where the COVID-19 vaccine provider is [are] It’s open to the public — showing contact, booking, and daily inventory status to clarify where vaccines are and where they aren’t. ” John Brownstein, Founder of VaccineFinder and Chief Information Officer of Boston Children’s Hospital.

According to Brownstein, more providers are “expected to join in the next few days or weeks” in more places after the first limited launch.

Many states and counties have developed as the pool of qualified people has expanded beyond healthcare professionals and nursing home residents. Your own list or map To show people which provider manages the shot.Volunteer efforts like FindA Hot, VaccinateCA And COVIDWA It was also born to meet this need.

In contrast, VaccineFinder does not require manual input from volunteers. We collect stock information directly from healthcare providers who are supposed to report inventory every 24 hours.

This does not solve all the problems people currently have when trying to get the COVID-19 vaccine.Still in states and counties Approach patchwork, Various eligibility requirements, registration process, and waiting list system. You can also use VaccineFinder to see which providers nearby are in stock and click the link to the booking site, but you’ll have to try your luck in different places to actually secure your booking. there is.

“This is one baby step in the complex number of steps people have to take to get a vaccine, but at least I hope it helps reduce some of the noise and confusion there. “Masu,” says Brownstein.

One concern is that even if your provider is supposed to update your inventory to Vaccine Finder every 24 hours, not everything will be updated consistently.If that happens, say there may actually be nothing in the place that appears on the map as in stock. Claire Hannan, Leads the Vaccination Managers Association.

She says it’s important that the site is reliable. Otherwise, people may be disappointed by the appearance of people on sites that think they have available shots. Knowing where the vaccine supply is in your community is certainly helpful, says Hannan, but it remains to be seen how useful and reliable the site is.

JenkatesI also agree with the Senior Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Director of Global Health and HIV Policy. “There are many possibilities for this idea, but there are still some questions. What will it really be?”

Another problem is that the site is not helping people who are requesting vaccines but are not yet qualified — a demand issue, Hannan explains. “It’s not connected to a centralized system that manages demand and puts you in line,” she says. “I think it’s missing.”

VaccineFinder is not new. It actually started after the H1N1 pandemic nine years ago, according to Brownstein, and has since been used to help people find seasonal flu shots, travel shots, and other vaccines they need. Has been done. “We think people will be happy to get more vaccines if they have better convenience and access to them,” he says.

According to Brownstein, a team of about 15 people at Boston Children’s Hospital and a staff of 25 subcontractors. Cast light, Digital Health Company — We are working hard to launch the COVID-19 vaccine site, but we have overcome the fact that vaccine supply is relatively low and eligibility is limited at this time. Both of these facts constrain how useful the tool is at this point.

The supply of coronavirus vaccine doses is increasing. The Biden administration states that it is currently giving the state 14.5 million doses per week. 70% increase Since taking office. If that trend continues, more slots will be available and more providers such as clinics, pharmacies and clinics will be able to begin distributing vaccine doses.

According to Brownstein, plans are underway to share Vaccine Finder data about where vaccine providers are and where shots are available with other online partners when the site is fully launched.

People will be able to find information about Vaccine Finder on sites such as Google Maps, Waze, and GoodRx, and “the number of these partners will increase,” Brownstein said. “That is, not just visiting the website, but meeting where the consumer is and seeing where anyone looking for the vaccine can find it.”

If all goes well, Americans can look forward to the time when vaccine doses are plentiful and everyone qualifies, find a local clinic or pharmacy with vaccine doses nearby, and shot. Is easy to take.