If you are impatiently waiting your turn to get a vaccine, you probably know all the tricks to make an appointment. (If not, we have a guide here.) But there is another path you can possibly follow: the assistance list. Sometimes clinics have extra doses available at the end of the day, and if you are in the right place at the right time, you may be able to get one.
Each clinic handles this situation differently, and different laws of the state may apply, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But we can offer some tips, including signing up for Dr. B, a service that says it will text you if extra doses are suddenly available in your area.
Why are extra doses sometimes available?
All three vaccines are sent in multi-dose vials, five or six doses per vial. Once a vial has been opened, its contents should be used within six hours.
G / O Media can get a commission
The vaccines also have limitations on the amount of time they can spend at a given temperature: for example, the Modern vaccine can spend 30 days in a refrigerator, but you can not freeze it again to buy more time. In addition, the vaccination vials also have an expiration date.
Vaccination clinics try to schedule their appointments to match the available doses, but sometimes they have to open a vial at the end of the day. Or, in rare cases, a freezer may fail and the staff must administer a large number of doses within a short time, such as what happened in seattle with a freezer containing 1600 doses of Moderna.
Who qualifies to get one of the extras doses?
It depends on state priority groups and state and local regulations. Extra doses are usually given to people who are already high on the priority lists, but in some cases it can be administered to anyone.
How do I sign in?
There is no organized national or state registry (which I could find) that serves as an assistance list. Clinics often keep their own lists of people to switch to when extra doses are available, including people who are enrolled for a vaccine but missed their appointment, and clinic staff or hospital patients who fall into priority groups.
Health enterprise Dr. B aims to suit people who want vaccines at clinics with extras, although Treports the New York Times so far they only work with two clinics. The company aims to connect people nationwide with extra doses, and says 200 clinics have applied to have a partner with them. They seem to be working within the existing states priority groups, so you can not miss the chance if you can not yet be vaccinated.
To sign up, you must provide personal information to the profitable company, which Taccording to the New York Times, has not yet described it business model. While many people will no doubt sign up for a shot increasing their chance to get a vaccine sooner, you can also just sit tight and sign up for an appointment as soon as you are eligible.