According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 56% of all Californians have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, but the key is vaccinating the rest of the state.
One website is using technology and crowdsourcing to get shots, especially leftover doses, to the hard to reach. It's called "Dr. B," and you reach it here.
The website is the brainchild of tech entrepreneur Cyrus Massoumi, who's on the board at Columbia Public Health School. Massoumi told KCBS Radio’s "Ask An Expert" that in the early days of the COVID-19 vaccine, up to 30% of appointments were canceled or no-shows.
That’s actually not that unusual in the health care industry, but for something as critical as a vaccine, he wanted to find a way to connect people who were looking for a shot with providers that had extra ones already thawed and potentially could go to waste.
"This is one of the scarcest resources on Earth and it was not being optimally allocated," he explained. "It was going to people who happened to be at the right place at the right time buying potato chips at the pharmacy or maybe someone who physically or financially could afford to wait in line all day to get the vaccine."
There are about 250 vaccine providers on the website, 10 of which are located in the Bay Area.
Dr. B is designed for people who can't or don't want to be calling providers or refreshing websites looking for appointments, but you have to be ready to drop everything and go once contacted. It's also in place to aid the nation's communities of color, which have been hit very hard by the pandemic.
"These very came communities have a high propensity for vaccine hesitancy," he added.
While you can't pick which COVID-19 vaccine shot or shots you get, they'll tell you when the text comes which drug is available to you.
If you’d like, you can refuse and get put back in the queue.
Related
