How to Find a COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment

by Katie Gilkinson, Reporter

Current Event/Public Health

Washington state moved into phases two and three of the Coronavirus vaccine distribution process in April. Such phases meant that anyone over the age of 16 is eligible to get the vaccine in Washington state, but recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and Washington state government approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for anyone 12 and older. Pfizer completed testing in those 12-15 years of age and found the vaccine 100% effective. In people 16 years and older, the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective, the Moderna vaccine is 94% effective, and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine is 77.4% effective in the United States.

Pfizer and Moderna require two shots, with Pfizer’s second dose after a minimum of 21 days and Moderna’s after a minimum of 28 days. The Johnson & Johnson is a single dose vaccine. Two weeks after the second dose, or a Johnson & Johnson single dose, the body is fully vaccinated.

Now that people 12 and older are eligible for vaccination, available appointments are scarce. The state government published a website in March to help Washingtonians find a COVID-19 vaccine: vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/. This website updates every few seconds to ensure accurate information. Several medical websites require membership, such as Kaiser Permanente, to book an appointment. Pharmacies such as Rite-Aid and CVS are open to the public, but such stores are inconvenient to find. The following steps show instructions on using the appointment locator website.

Go to https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/ and enter in your ZIP code

This website finds appointments within 50 miles of the given zip code. Once the zip code is entered, a list of current vaccination locations and their available appointments pop-up.

Once a location with available appointments is found, click the button labelled “Go to website.”

Locations labeled “Updated a few seconds ago” most likely provide unoccupied sessions.

Once a location is selected, the website will redirect to the provider’s webpage (for example, Rite Aid’s website).

Each website is unique, however, their logistics are identical. Providers always verify vaccination eligibility and ask questions regarding current living situations and medical conditions.

Then, the website requires a location selection.

Once eligibility for the registered person(s) is verified, type in the previously used zip code. Then, select the desired location of the chosen provider. It may take a while to find a store that has an appointment, because of the high demand for sessions.

Choose an optimal time slot and day.

Based on personal searching, Rite Aid and CVS usually have many time slots available.

After selecting an appointment time, more personal information is required.

Type in the name, address, birth date, phone number, email, doctor’s office information, and last four digits of the social security number or insurance card information of the registered person(s). It will then ask general health questions to make sure to verify there are no COVID-19 symptoms of the registered person(s).

As of 6:00 AM on May 13, a total of 118,987,308 Americans, 35.8% of the population, are fully vaccinated. Washington state contains 2,921,812, fully vaccinated individuals, about 38.37% of the state’s population (Becker’s Hospital Review). The CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US’s Director of National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, claim that once 60-70% of the American population is vaccinated, the US reaches herd immunity status. Now that people 12 and older are eligible for vaccination, the American public is a step closer toward herd immunity and getting back to a sense of normalcy. For more information on Coronavirus vaccines, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Sources

Anderson, Katie Adams and Maia. “States Ranked by Percentage of Population Vaccinated: April 13.” Becker's Hospital Review, www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-population-vaccinated-march-15.html

“Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID Director.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.niaid.nih.gov/about/director.

“Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

Doh.wa.gov, www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/vaccine.

Frank McGeorge, MD. “What Does Being Fully Vaccinated against COVID Really Look like?” WDIV, WDIV ClickOnDetroit, 7 Apr. 2021, www.clickondetroit.com/health/2021/04/07/what-does-being-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-really-look-like/.

“Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Janssen.html.

“Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html.

“Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Pfizer-BioNTech.html.

Vaccinate WA: COVID-19 Vaccine Availability, vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/.