Some have sent emails with helpful articles and a brainstorm for a solution.
“It seemed like a lot of people were just spending a lot of time on these pharmacy websites,” said Muerdter, a 34-year-old software engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. “And it was especially frustrating, just because you went to the website, you entered a zip code, you chose a store and then no, no, no appointments. And then you have to try or try another store.” another zip code. “
In other words, the kinds of repetitive tasks that Muerdter knew computers could perform better and faster. And that gave him an idea.
In mid-February, in his spare time, Muerdter began creating a tool that explores the availability of vaccines for local pharmacies and gathers all the information in one place – so users can see nearby appointments by entering their zip code and how far they were willing to drive.
Colleagues who searched for weeks found appointments for suitable family members within days, he said using the new website.
“It just tried to automate what you have to do when you go to the sites and enter every zip code or … check every store in your area,” he said.
And soon, starting as a small side project, it became an ‘all-consuming’ job outside of his full-time job. Muerdter’s website now covers all 50 US states, plus Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
‘A great lifesaver’
While Muerdter says his lists are not complete and still recommends that Americans check other places – such as provincial and state websites – dozens of grateful users have posted success stories on social media.
Walton, who lives in Illinois, began frantically searching for Covid-19 vaccine appointments for her parents who live in Iowa, just after the state expanded its vaccination guidelines to include them. Her parents are both in their 60s, she says, with pre-existing conditions that put them at higher risk for severe Covid-19.
“I just looked at every website I could, in their country, in the state. I looked at the CDC’s website and nothing would appear,” she said.
Until she heard about Vaccine Spotter and “I immediately found appointments.”
“I started sharing the gospel about it with everyone I know,” Walton said, helping a friend’s mom book an appointment in Arizona, two good friends in Ohio, and finally an appointment for her husband and herself. find when they are eligible in their own state. .
“It was a great lifesaver,” she said.
“Just the ease of knowing that my parents will be okay is very great after last year,” Walton later added, speaking through tears.
Kira-Lynn Ferderber, an essential worker at a rape center in Florida, also struggled last month to find an appointment after she was eligible for the vaccine.
Without a car and unable to travel far, Ferderber says the search – back and forth between various sites and lists – has become overwhelming.
Until someone posted on Twitter about Vaccine Spotter. And Ferderber found an appointment two days later.
“I take the bus or I take Ubers a lot and in Florida a lot of people don’t wear masks, not even in businesses I can’t avoid going into … and I work with the public, too,” Ferderber said. “So it was just such a relief to get my first vaccine.”
A voluntary effort
For Muerdter to make the website work – and to improve it – means a lot of “late nights and weekends”.
“The feedback has been really amazing and positive and it seems like so many people have found it helpful,” he said. “It’s just kind of making me happy.”
And knowing that he is helping is enough of a reward, says Muerdter.
“I’m not trying to make money from this,” he says. “I just love helping people.”
How long will he keep the site up and running?
“My main goal is really just to keep it going as long as it’s useful,” he said. “In my mind, the sooner it’s not useful, the better, because it means either we’re all vaccinated, or … there are enough appointments out there that it’s not this big kind of game and issue to try to find. not.”