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Despite the progress, however, getting immunization appointments has been a source of great frustration for many people. The appointment slots are filled a few minutes after their availability. States, local health departments, and drugstore chains have their own listing websites, which in many cases do not share data with each other. The CDC has its own Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS, which some states use to register people for vaccinations and to collect essential data, but state officials have complained that it was awkward.
Exasperated people have taken matters into their own hands, creating online navigation tools and “vaccine hunter” Facebook groups in cities like Los Angeles and New Orleans to help connect people with available doses.
When the VaccineFinder portal goes live this week, it will include pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide, as well as many other locations, such as mass vaccination sites, in Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, and the United States. Tennessee.
Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson for the CDC, said the agency encourages vaccination sites to “provide accurate and up-to-date information on the location, times and availability of vaccines, so that Americans can more easily find vaccination sites.
Dr Marcus Plescia, Chief Medical Officer of the Association of State and Territory Health Officials, said: “I think people are optimistic and are looking forward to it.” He continued, “As with everything we are deploying in the midst of this pandemic, if there are any issues, it could end up creating a lot of confusion, but I think we’ll just have to fix it.”
Finding doses was relatively straightforward in the first few weeks of vaccine deployment, when eligible people – health workers, residents, and long-term care facility staff – were vaccinated primarily where they lived or lived. were working.
But states have since widened their eligibility criteria to include the elderly, people with certain medical conditions and some frontline workers. Other sites have also been added to distribute vaccines, including stadiums and local pharmacies.
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