There has been a lot of frustration from people all across the country about the difficulty of getting an appointment for the COVID vaccine. Countless individuals have recounted their experiences of visiting vaccine sites and repeatedly refreshing the pages, only to find that it is impossible to get an appointment. This has become even more problematic recently as states are now opening up eligibility for the vaccine, allowing more people to register.

The resulting problem is longer wait times for the vaccine as more and more people are competing for limited appointments. Trying to get a slot has become quite a daunting task. But don’t fret, there is help! Anu Pokharel and Michael Israel recently developed VaxBot to notify people when there are appointments available nearby. It is a free app where an anonymous chatbot sends vaccine appointment notifications to your devices.

What separates VaxBot from many other services out there is the quality of the data, the number of vaccine locations, and the ability to receive notifications on all devices. VaxBot is giving people back their freedom so they don't have to refresh their browsers all day and night worrying
about missing the appointment drop.

The positive feedback and success stories from the app encouraged these volunteers to improve the system daily.

Rebecca H. from Massachusetts said, “I’ve been trying to get an appointment but was constantly frustrated by how many sites I had to check and all the time it took away from spending time with my family. I used VaxBot and within 24 hours I was scheduled for a nearby appointment for later that week. It felt like winning the lottery!”

Christine Z, a NYC Vaccine Angel said, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve now been able to make multiple appointments using your app, including one for myself- this is wonderful!

Since its launch two weeks ago, they have connected more than 20k vaccination sites and are over 1 million messages across all 50 states in addition to three U.S. territories. They are also a primary resource for several vaccine angel groups. When you see the notification for an available
appointment, simply click on the link and sign up for a spot.

“We are trying to help make peoples’ lives a little bit easier. It’s encouraging that so many people want to get the vaccine that means our country can soon return to a sense of normalcy,” said Co-Founder, Michael Israel. “We are here to help and eliminate any barriers to ensure people’s health and safety.”

Learn more or register by visiting https://vaccine.monal.im/


By Rebecca Israel