How to Get Your Vaccine Faster? Step By Step Advice.
updated How to Get Your Vaccine March 2021
After a long year of being cooped up and restricted, everyone is itching to get out and get back to normal. Previously only a small number of people were permitted to get the vaccine due to limited availability. Currently, under phase 1b, many more people are eligible to sign up for doses.
Protection from the Covid-19 virus is in exceedingly high demand but the distribution process has been a bigger mess than teaching a toddler to finger paint. Anyone who has attempted to sign up for the vaccine and they can tell you how confusing, frustrating, and difficult it has been.
At best it’s like a game of roulette where you never know what you’ll get (if anything comes up at all)!
Thanks to the fact that everything is decentralized, not run by the federal government or any other single organizing body, each state is different. Vaccination sites are using different systems to book appointments and register patients. There is a tangled cat’s cradle of information you need to understand in order to win the vaccine appointment craps shoot.
Some people have already figured out how to achieve this seemingly impossible task. The ones who have gotten these great early appointments followed these tips and tricks to success.
1. Go To Your State’s Vaccine Resource Page.
In order to have the best chance of success, first, you must gather the necessary information and form a game plan.
You need to know what registration information you’ll need for the appointment booking process and where to go to get started.
Your state’s website should be able to tell you where you can register online and which sites near you are offering vaccines.
Bookmark the resource page before you leave. It’s very likely that you will need to return before you succeed in booking your appointment.
The CDC recommends going to Vaccinefinder.org to start your search though this information may not be complete for all states.
2. Save Links to Every. Single. Available Appointment Website
Teach yourself how to operate each one of the appointment setting websites so that you are less likely to get confused when you try to actually book. One of the most critical components to consider is what the best time would be to confirm an appointment.
At certain CVS Pharmacies, for example, they usually add more appointment times around 5 AM or 6 AM. You can access the CVS Pharmacies Covid Scheduler here to help begin your search.
The rumor mill has been whispered that Walgreens loads new appointments at midnight. Official information on the Walgreens vaccine distribution can be found on their website.
Other pharmacies and vaccination sites will differ. You may have to put your sleuthing hat on and dig for the information, but it’ll be worth it.
3. Go To Your Browser Settings and Turn on Autofill
It’s best not to use a mobile device for this step if you can help it. You’re going to be racing against the clock to lock in your appointment the moment you see one pop up. A laptop or desktop computer would be a much more appropriate tool to use for this purpose.
You may be questioning exactly how autofill can assist you in winning that sprint. It’ll fill in all your predetermined information into the form for you, saving you precious time writing it all out yourself.
Thanks to step one you should already have a good idea of what the registration forms are going to ask.
Setting up autofill isn’t particularly difficult or time-consuming.
Directions for setting up autofill on various browsers are available on computerhope.com
This one simple step can save you a lot of headaches when it comes to filling out paperwork and forms online.
4. Work Smarter Not Harder With A Browser Extension That Refreshes The Page For You
Page Refresh is the name of a browser extension that will automatically refresh the appointment booker page every few seconds. This tool will save you an enormous amount of drudgery.
Utilizing this method, when a new batch of appointments added you’re likely to be among the first to know.
Likewise, when a canceled appointment up for grabs you’re probably going to see it first.
The only tricky part is making sure to turn off the extension the second you see an appointment come up.
5. Set an Alert That will Notify You To Change In A Page
One option for this is the website Visualping.io though there are others out there that offer the same service.
The site will email you when part of a website you are watching displays any change. When used to watch an appointment booking website, this means that you can set it to alert you when the “no appointments available” text is changed. This alert will give you the best possible shot of getting an appointment ASAP.
6. Keep An Eye On Social Media
Local community pages and other helpful neighbors in the know might offer you a good tip when new appointments become available somewhere. There may be health care workers or health centers with valuable updates trying to get the word out.
Also, keep an eye out for organizations in your community that are out there trying to help get everyone vaccinated. There are many community-minded groups such as Helping NYC Get Vaccinated (Covid-19) on Facebook and other platforms.
However, take everything you find on social media with a grain of salt and don’t share personal information with strangers.
Even if they are genuinely trying to help, information security is more important these days than ever before. Don’t make your personal information vulnerable in the hunt for a vaccine.
Some Final Notes And Remainders While You’re Waiting For Your Vaccine
If you follow this simple step-by-step process, you are much more likely to receive your Covid-19 vaccination earlier.
Though mean vaccines work, they are most effective when everyone is vaccinated, so it may still be a while that we all have to be wearing a mask and social distancing.
However, it will all be worth it in the end when we make it through the other side of this pandemic with our health.
While you’re waiting for your vaccine doses, be sure to keep your immune system as robust as possible.
Mrna vaccine development and clinical trials have shown that the vaccine is safe, but you may experience an immune response with some flu-like symptoms.
