MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A new app is connecting people with available vaccine appointments. Vaccines are open to everyone in South Carolina 16 and up, but there’s still competition to find available shots.
Vaxbot is a new system notifying you when and where there are available appointments nearby.
As soon as someone cancels or a wave of appointments open up, a notification will go to your device.
“For the most part, especially with places like CVS, there are one or two large drops during the day, then everything else we find was someone in the process, and they canceled,” VaxBot Co-Founder Michael Israel said.
VaxBot’s sign up has users follow four easy steps:
1. Download chat app:
2. Sign up for a free account
3. Once you create your account, click this link to enable notifications through the app you downloaded
4. You’ll receive a welcome message in the chat app letting you know you’re good to go.
After you have an appointment, unsubscribe, so you stop receiving notifications.
VaxBot launched a couple of weeks ago and has connected with more than 20,000 different vaccine sites in the U.S., several of those right here in our area.
Some of the big chains you’ll find on the app are CVS, Walgreens, Publix, and Kroger.
The co-founder tells News13 he and his partner created the system out of necessity. They built the design, tested the waters locally, and once proved successful he said there was no way he could keep it a secret.
“I found that I was able to get the vaccine through our app within days of when I booked it, and it took me almost no effort to make it. My friend booked in January and just got vaccinated today,” Israel said.
The system helps relieve state department website traffic and helps save the searcher time by not having to sit and keep refreshing your screen, waiting for something to open.
The app is free and anonymous for users. Israel and co-founder Anu Pokharel told News13 the system is “purely as a public service.”
