Apple announced today that Apple Maps has been updated with vaccination sites from VaccineFinder, a website run by Boston Children’s Hospital that provides information on the suitability and availability of vaccine. People can search nearby vaccination sites in Apple Maps or ask Siri, “Where can I get a COVID vaccination?” More than 20,000 locations are now listed, with more in the coming weeks.
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Each list of vaccines in Apple Maps contains the working hours and contact information for the website, with a link to the provider’s website to find the availability of vaccines and to make an appointment.
With the new feature, Apple joins a number of other technology ventures that provide more ways for people to qualify, track vaccination sites, and make vaccinations.
Facebook announced yesterday that it will add VaccineFinder information to its COVID information center, which will show people when and where they can get vaccinations and provide links to make appointments. The COVID Information Center is also expanding to Instagram, and the company is working to expand WhatsApp chatbots from the government and health authorities to help people sign up for vaccinations.
Google also offers more ways to find information about vaccination. The company announced today that people can use business messages on Google Maps and Google searches to contact local pharmacies owned by Albertsons companies – including Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Albertsons, Acme, Shaw’s and Tom Thumb – with questions about eligible for vaccine, availability, and appointment booking.
The U.S. federal government will find its own vaccination website on May 1, saying all adults in the U.S. are eligible for a vaccine at that time. To date, about 28 percent of adults in the U.S. have received their first dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.