PUEBLO — On April 2nd, every person in Colorado over the age of 16 will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, many people who have been eligible for the past several months have still struggled to successfully book an appointment.
“At first there were only a few people doing shots and people knew where to go. Now that a lot more people are doing shots, it also depends on whether or not they have the vaccine because the vaccine isn’t a guarantee every week," explained Janette Burns, Owner of JB Pharmacy in Pueblo.
While Doug Ward, a resident in Colorado Springs, searched to find a vaccine appointment for his mom, he realized how many people were having the same problems.
“I sprung into action to build these and once that started I was just overwhelmed by people reaching out to me.”
"These" meaning a Facebook Page - Colorado Vaccine Hunters - and a website - vaccinehunter.org. These pages are used as tools for people to find available vaccine appointments near them, or even notify others when someone cancels and last minute vaccines become available.
“It makes my heart just so happy to see them get vaccinated, and after they’ve lost all hope for finding the vaccine there’s one that becomes available,” said Ward.
Ward's tips for finding an appointment include widening your search to different areas, set Twitter alerts for @CoVaxAlerts, seek out excess vaccines due to no-shows or cancellations, and above all "Be patient and be persistent. There is not one easy way to get a vaccine and I hope that everybody really takes the time and effort to really hunker down and find an appointment."
Websites you can use to scan for appointments include:
