Online vaccine hunting groups helping connect people with spare doses

WASHINGTON (SBG) — A grassroots effort to connect more people with COVID-19 vaccines is expanding across the country.

Brad Johnson created the NOLA Vaccine Hunters Facebook group back in January. He says a friend in Israel told him about how hundreds of vaccines were going unclaimed, so nurses grabbed people off the streets to make sure the shots were administered. He predicted the same thing would happen in the U.S.

“This is not a result of poor planning,” said Johnson. “It's an artifact of cold storage and handling of the vaccine itself. When you unfreeze or open a vial it has to be used in a few hours.”

The original goal of Johnson’s Facebook group was to share information about leftover doses that would otherwise expire. Due to the extremely cold storage COVID-19 vaccines require, they can only be used for a matter of hours after the vial has been opened. If a clinic doesn’t use all the doses, or has patients who don’t show up, the remaining doses are thrown out.

There are providers allowing anyone to snag those doses at the last minute regardless of whether they meet the criteria. Clinics are using waitlists to notify people when there are extra supplies.

Doug Ward stumbled across the NOLA Vaccine Hunters page while trying to find his mother a vaccine. It led him to create a group for his community in Colorado.

“The local groups aspect for vaccine hunting has proven great for crowdsourcing information,” said Ward. “Whenever someone has a tidbit of information—they were able to find an excess vaccine or get on a waitlist—sharing that information has helped others get vaccinated.”

Ward also launched a website to compile this information in one place. The page has links to more than 30 Facebook groups across the country and is constantly being updated.

“Having this website has allowed others to find their local groups for parents in other states,” said Ward.

Shar Clark is an administrator for the Midwest Vaccine Hunters page. She got involved while trying to help her parents. In the process, she ended up receiving one of those extra doses because of a snowstorm and a computer glitch.

“It happened to be when Detroit got hit with a snowstorm and a very bad week for computer problems for the Macomb County Health Department,” said Clark. “Multiple appointments were made for people, and because of the snow there were a number of elderly people who couldn't make it. I explained to the woman, my dad has two appointments. She asked, ‘Do you want his second appointment?’ And I said, ‘Are you kidding me right now?’ She said they were all thawed, and they had to give them out.”

Clark says the consensus from the Facebook group she oversees is frustration. Now she spends her lunch hour and evenings answering people’s questions and calming nerves.

“It's important to me after seeing what it took for me to get appointments for my parents,” said Clark. “I've lost a number of friends to COVID, and I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone else.”

The scope of these vaccine hunting groups has expanded beyond the original push to connect people with spare doses. Now it’s become a community effort to help people get in line, many of whom are elderly and not tech-savvy.

“There are people who are retired, unemployed, at home helping others—strangers—that joined the group and are unable to find appointments,” said Johnson. “These self-described ‘vaccine angels’ are jumping at the chance to help someone else and be a good Samaritan and find an appointment. These people have learned all the tips and tricks where to sign up, and when the appointments get dropped. It's incredible to see the community band together to support one another, especially when they don't know each other.”

Johnson says it’s important to join your local group because restrictions differ state by state.

“This is so regional. Your local group has the best information for your region,” said Johnson.

“Every state is totally different. I'd like to tear my hair out,” said Clark.

There have been instances where people travel to other states searching for a vaccine because of those differences. But Johnson cautions against “vaccine tourism,” saying you need to stick to your own community so there is enough supply for the people in those areas.

“It's crazy to see this logistical problem where it's easier for someone to get a vaccine by driving to another state and encouraging vaccine tourism,” said Ward. “It shouldn't be happening. People should be able to get vaccines where they live. It's been such a disconnected system.”

Ward and Johnson are working on a new system. They say Facebook groups have worked to gain awareness, but they’re not very efficient. They’d like to implement an alert-based system where patients get a text when there’s a shot available. They’re also communicating directly with pharmacies and clinics to help solve the logistical problems.

“This is just the beginning,” said Johnson. “It has gone viral over the past few weeks. It has ballooned. As the supply of doses increases, there are going to be more opportunities for vaccines to be wasted. This is such an early stage. We have months ahead of us.”

One final piece of advice Johnson has to offer: volunteer at a vaccine clinic. It’s a way to become eligible for a vaccine.

“It’s one of the ways we encourage young, able bodied people to get their shot,” said Johnson. “We see a ton of people volunteering.”