A new “vaccine hunting” website aims to help track down spare doses of coronavirus vaccines nationwide for those unable or unwilling to wait for the shots.
The website, vaccinehunter.org, compiled information on available doses for specific regions across the country, according to a Sinclair Broadcast Group report.
With a growing number of vaccine doses going unused and the demand exceeding the supply, some health care providers are letting people receive vaccinations at the last minute, whether or not they belong to a priority group.
Brad Johnson, a medical and public health student at Tulane University in New Orleans and creator of the Facebook group Nola Vaccine Hunters, said his project has become a source for “community members helping strangers.”
“There are these self-described vaccine angels who are jumping at the chance to help someone else and be a good Samaritan and find an appointment,” Johnson said, according to the Sinclair report. “These people have learned all the tips and tricks where to sign up, when the appointments get dropped.”
Johnson said his enterprise communicates with clinics and pharmacies to refine the process and is pondering setting up an alert-based system.