Some sent emails with helpful articles and brainstormed about 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 for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. “And they were extremely frustrating, just because it was, you know, you go to the website, you enter a zip code, you select 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 kind of repetitive tasks that Muerdter knew computers could do better and faster. And that gave him an idea.
In mid-February, Muerdter started creating a tool in his spare time that scanned the availability of vaccine appointments from local pharmacies and gathered all that information in one place – allowing users to view available appointments nearby simply by entering their zip code and how far away they are. goods. were willing to drive.
Colleagues who had been searching for weeks found appointments for eligible family members in just days, he said, using the new website.
“This was just really trying to automate what you were supposed to do if you were to visit the websites and enter every zip code or … check every single store in your area,” he said.
And what started as a small side project quickly 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 huge lifesaver’
Although Muerdter says his lists are not exhaustive and still recommends that Americans check other locations as well, such as state and provincial websites, dozens of grateful users have posted success stories on social media.
Walton, who lives in Illinois, frantically began looking for Covid-19 vaccine appointments for her parents who live in Iowa right after the state expanded its vaccine eligibility 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 searched every website I could, their county, the state, I looked at the CDC’s website and nothing came up,” she said.
Until she heard about Vaccine Spotter and “I immediately found appointments for them”.
“ I started speaking the gospel about it to everyone I know, ” Walton said as he helped a friend’s mother book an appointment in Arizona, two close friends in Ohio, and eventually found an appointment for her husband and herself. when they were eligible in their own state. .
“It was a huge lifesaver,” she said.
“The consolation alone to know that my parents are going to be okay after last year,” Walton added later, tearfully on the phone.
Kira-Lynn Ferderber, a key worker at a rape crisis center in Florida, also struggled to find an appointment last month after qualifying for the vaccine.
Without a car and not being able to travel far, Ferderber says the search – going back and forth between multiple websites and lists – became overwhelming.
Until someone posted on Twitter about Vaccine Spotter. And Ferderber found an appointment two days later.
“I take the bus or I take a lot of Ubers and in Florida a lot of people don’t wear masks, even in companies I can’t avoid going in… and I work with the public too,” said Ferderber. “So it was such a relief to get my first vaccine.”
A volunteer work
Keeping the website functioning – and improving – means a lot of “late nights and weekends” for Muerdter.
“The feedback has been really amazing and positive and so many people seem to have found this helpful,” he said. “That’s exactly what makes me happy.”
And knowing he helps is rewarded enough, says Muerdter.
“I’m not trying to make money off this,” he says. “I’m just happy to help people.”
How long will he keep the website running?
“My main goal is actually to keep it up as long as it is useful,” he said. “In my mind, the sooner it’s not usable, the better, because that means we’ve all been vaccinated or … there are plenty of agreements that it’s not that huge of a game and problem trying to find them. ”