6,000-STRONG GROUP HELPS GUIDE SAN DIEGANS TO VACCINE
Via Facebook, Hunters offer tips and tricks on how to secure your shot
An increasingly popular Facebook group is helping thousands of San Diegans figure out when and where they can get a coronavirus vaccine.
The group, aptly named San Diego Vaccine Hunters, shares tips and tricks on how to secure an appointment at sites run by the county, health systems, local pharmacies and other vaccine providers.
Longtime philanthropist and Rancho Santa Fe resident Lena Evans created the group in early February after her own experience struggling to get her shot. She realized that if she was confused, she probably wasn’t the only one. So Evans collected and posted all the information she could find from local news outlets, government websites and social media on how and where to get a COVID-19 vaccine in San Diego County.
It didn’t take long for word of the group to spread. San Diego Vaccine Hunters now has more than 6,000 members and counting, with about 1,200 users joining over the past week.
Having such a sizable community comes in handy. The county has more than 150 vaccine sites run by local health systems, pharmacies and the county itself, with new locations popping up regularly. Knowing what sites are open, which ones run smoothly, whether they tend to have extra doses, and where and when to check for appointments is no easy task.
Case in point: On Monday, Kaiser Permanente opened a new vaccination site for both Kaiser members and nonmembers at 6602 Convoy Court, which will begin immunizing 500 people a day but can ramp up to 2,000 a day in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Del Mar Fairgrounds superstation, run by Scripps Health, will be closed
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week. The everchanging details of the region’s rollout can be headache-inducing. But that’s where the group comes in, Evans says.
“It’s really the place to be because people will stand in line and report right now exactly what’s happening: ‘I’m standing in line at Balboa Park, there are five of us here.’ And then they continue with providing information until the time that they received their vaccine,” Evans said. “Information like that, that’s super dynamic and immediate, is what is really powerful.”
In addition to allowing users to ask and answer questions about
vaccine locations, side effects and related information, the group features a guide created by Evans and member Scott Riggs. The guide includes tips on the best times to look for appointments through local pharmacies, suggests automated Twitter accounts to follow for regular updates when appointments become available, and provides links for those willing to volunteer at an immunization site to get a vaccine. The group is private, but Evans serves as the moderator and has been accepting anyone who wants to join. She says that she reads every post and comment but only removes those who post anti-vaccine messages or other misleading material.
“Vaccination is a gift, and the gift of the group is to help other people, and I am 100 percent in support of that and want to help,” Evans said. “Obviously, at some point, the need won’t be so immediate because we’ll all be vaccinated. But that’s going to take a while.”
Plenty of Californians are still searching for a vaccine. Last Thursday, the state opened eligibility to anyone 50 and up. Within the first 12 hours of the day, 837,000 people visited MyTurn (myturn.ca.gov), the state’s vaccine notification and scheduling system. One week prior, 679,000 users visited the site, meaning that activity increased by 23 percent. Starting April 15, all Californians 16 and up will become eligible for a coronavirus vaccine. Local officials hope to have 1.9 million San Diegans fully vaccinated by July 1. So far, around 605,000 residents have reached that mark, which requires two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or a single dose from Johnson & Johnson.
On Monday, the county reported 127 new coronavirus infections and no additional deaths. Despite reports of an uptick in cases in other parts of the U.S., over the past two weeks, just 2.2 percent of coronavirus tests have come back positive in San Diego County. There are 189 San Diegans in the hospital with COVID-19; about a month ago, the count was 351.
For additional information about San Diego Vaccine Hunters, visit facebook.com/groups/ sandiegovaccinehunters.