How-tos

Tips from COVID vaccine hunters who are actually booking appointments


You’ve been searching, clicking, refreshing, refreshing some more, only to see the dreaded “no appointments available” message.

Maybe you’ve had your heart race when you see actual COVID-19 vaccine appointment times available, only to have your hopes dashed when the appointment disappears by the time you’re done putting in your information.

Maybe you’ve spent hours on hold with the state’s vaccine hotline, or in an online queue of thousands, hoping that the appointments that just dropped won’t run out before they get to your number.

As your frustration mounts and things start to feel hopeless, you hear that tech-savvy volunteers have been able to book literally thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments for eligible people across the state. Some are booking dozens a week, others hundreds.

HOW IN THE HECK ARE THEY DOING IT?

“It is possible,” said Ashley Overeem, a teacher from Piscataway who has been able to book hundreds of appointments for seniors.

She said it takes patience, the right information and — this is a big one — some internet know-how.

It’s not news to anyone, but because the scheduling systems for most of the vaccine sites are entirely online and famously buggy, seniors and others who are less tech-adept are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to booking appointments.

That’s why she and hundreds of volunteers like her are staying up past midnight, getting up early and spending any free moment trying to get appointments for people who need them.

Yes, they’re good with technology. But they also have a slate of tips and tricks they’ve learned from experience or other volunteers. One of the biggest is finding out when the appointments are going to “drop,” or get posted on the vaccine websites so people can book them. Often the appointments are all snatched up within minutes. Sometimes seconds.

Vaccine Computer Setup

Adil Sheikh, a project manager in Plainsboro who volunteers his time helping book appointments for seniors, uses six computers to help him book vaccine appointments more quickly.

That’s why technology is not the only barrier. Some of these tips work only for people who can drop everything at a moment’s notice, rush to their computer and get booking within a minute or two of an appointment drop — which is going to be a problem if you work in-person job, can’t stay near your computer all the time or, of course, don’t have a computer or smart phone. And if you’re looking for appointments at a certain site, you might have to stay up late or get up early to watch for the appointment drop.

Here’s the first tip: Follow the state’s unofficial ‘vaccine bots.’ They’re not actually bots, they’re tech-savvy do-gooders who monitor dozens of vaccine appointment websites (not all of them) and tweet when they have dropped new appointments.

“While we’re talking I’ve gotten three dings on my phone because the Meadowlands [vaccine mega site] just posted appointments,” Overeem said.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, make one. Follow these two accounts: @nj_vaccine and @C19VaxxUpdates. Because those appointments go so fast, you need to set up notifications so that you will get a text, email or push alert whenever there’s a new tweet about appointments. (The volunteers recommended downloading the Twitter app and setting up push notifications because the text/email notifications sometimes don’t work. Here’s an explainer on how to do that.)

Overeem said just because you know appointments just dropped doesn’t mean you’re going to get one. Maybe they only posted a couple dozen, or maybe 100, and those bots are followed by thousands of people who just got the same alert you did.

“Like Valley Health in Paramus just posted appointments for two days. You know that everyone on that Facebook group and that follows that Twitter [account] is going to be on there. And they’re only releasing 30 appointments,” she said.

(Kenneth Hsu, who runs the @nj_vaccine Twitter account also has a website and posted this ultimate guide to getting appointments, created by Zachary Ciabattari. Among other things, it includes a list of vaccination sites that you can sign up for a waitlist and be notified when appointments are available.)

Second tip: Join the New Jersey COVID Vaccine Info Facebook page and get your questions answered.

This Facebook group was started by New Jersey natives and sisters Brandi Prell and Brittany Prell Cohen, who wanted to help eligible people get appointments. It isn’t just a place for people to connect with the many volunteers booking appointments. The moderators have posted tips and guides and even videos to help you.

Struggling to get an appointment at a Hackensack Meridian Health location near you? Here’s a tip sheet on that.

Want to learn more about which sites are easiest or hardest to book and how you can give yourself the best chance? Try this incredible master list of vaccine sites by county with tips (if you scroll all the way to the right) on when the appointments drop and any other tricks.

You can also use the search function within the Facebook group to find other people’s tips and answers to questions that have already been asked.

For instance, if you want to know the trick to get appointments at CVS, click on the magnifying glass on the top right part of the group to open the search function, then type CVS.

A screengrab of the New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info Facebook group showing the button for the search function.

A screengrab of the New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info Facebook group showing the button for the search function.

That will show you all the tips about booking at CVS, including when the appointments drop (usually around midnight) as well as this explainer on how to use this round-about technique to find available appointments in New Jersey, even when typing New Jersey won’t reveal them.

Amy Heller, who organizes NJ Vaccine Matchmakers, a group of about 900 volunteers who have secured over 11,000 vaccine appointments for seniors, said the Facebook group is a great source of information. If you don’t find what you’re looking for with the search function, Heller said, you can just ask a question in the group like thousands of others are doing.

“And if all else fails, you call us,” she said.

You don’t actually call. If you’re over 65 and need help from Heller’s army of volunteers, you can fill out this form and a volunteer will contact you. Anyone who is eligible can also comment on one of the daily posts and another volunteer from the Facebook group will be in touch.

Here are a few more tips about how to actually secure an appointment once you’re actually able to access available appointment times on a given website.

First, use autofill. This will make it so when you get to the part of the booking process where you’re asked for your info, most of it will automatically populate the fields as soon as you start typing your name. (Here’s how to do it on Google Chrome, in Safari, in Firefox and in Microsoft Edge.)

“You’re able to autofill the address, so that you don’t have to spend that time,” Overeem said. “Because you’re talking about a difference of five seconds and 30 seconds typing in all the information.”

The appointments also go so fast that you may click on an appointment time, but by the time you finish filling out your information, it says that time is no longer available. You’ll have to go back and start again, and you certainly don’t want to have to take another 30 seconds to type in your address again.

If a website asks for your insurance information, volunteers advise people to skip that step, because insurance isn’t required. If you do have insurance, you can bring your insurance card to the appointment and give them the information then, Overeem said.

Another trick to try to avoid missing out on that appointment time is to choose a time slot that the fewest people are likely to click on, so you’re competing against fewer people in that rush to fill out the information.

“Most people will go and pick that top one, the first one that they see, or the last one. They don’t always go in the middle,” she said.

On some websites, you might be able to click ‘more,’ use a drop down menu or scroll to the right to see additional available times, and that’s an even better bet, she said. The Meadowlands mega site website, for instance, will show several different appointment times but you can use a drop down menu on desktop or scroll on your smartphone to see even more available times.

Since it’s an extra step to click on that drop down menu, she said, fewer people will be trying to register for those slots. (Here’s a how-to guide from @nj_vaccine, and a video below showing the scrolling works.)

The last tip is to try to keep your head up. It may feel impossible, they said, but it’s not.

“It’s getting easier. We’ve seen a drop in the demand from what we call super seniors, like the over 75 crowd. We are expanding our eligibility to assist,” Heller said.

Overeem said if people do their research about when appointments drop and are patient and diligent, it will eventually work out.

“If that appointment doesn’t work out, there’s always another,” she said.

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Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.





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