An Aussie redditor has launched a website that dings every time there’s a Pfizer vax appointment available at one of Sydney’s big clinics or vaccination hubs, allowing people who are eligible but struggling to find themselves a time to lock in their jab.
Covid Queue was launched last week by redditor handshakerefuser (who also gifted us the spectacular Scomo Simulator game last year) after they struggled to book in a Pfizer appointment anywhere in Sydney.
Once they’d realised how much of a clusterfuck it was to get that initial jab, they decided to try and make things a bit easier for other eligible Sydneysiders trying to get themselves jabbed, too.
The website collates and lists all the next available appointments at the city’s biggest vaccination clinics and centres – Royal Price Alfred Hospital in Camperdown, St Vincent Hospital in Darlinghurst, Westmead Hospital, and the vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park in the western suburbs.
When you get in the virtual ~line~ on the site, it starts up the process of combing through the four locations’ appointment data, and pops up the next available slots that you can book. Every time it finds a new Pfizer vaccine appointment, the site makes a little dinging sound, and the date and time are added to the rolling list, along with a link to book.
(Thankfully the AstraZeneca jab is super easy to book an appointment for, and I highly recommend using HotDoc to find your nearest clinic and lock in your jab.)
What’s even better is that the genius creator of the site has added in alerts for when the site finds two available spots that are three weeks apart, so you can book yourself in for the first and second vax appointment in Sydney in one go.
As Sydney is currently dealing with a serious outbreak of the hyper-contagious Delta variant, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has issued advice to confirm that residents can now get the two doses in a shorter time frame – so those who can get the Pfizer vax in Sydney can now be jabbed as soon as three weeks apart.
Damn, this website is so bloody handy, and takes a lot of the stress out of making that initial appointment. We’ve clearly got to make things easy for ourselves if nobody else is going to do it, and the Covid Queue site is strides better than anything the federal government’s put out.
Someone get in touch with old mate here and get them to build this out for the rest of the country, fuck knows we need something to get everyone vaxxed already.
All adult Aussies (yep, even if those of us under 40) are currently able to get the safe and effective AstraZeneca vaccine through a GP. Talk to a doctor to see if it’s right for you.
Alternatively, you can triple-check to see if you’re eligible for the Pfizer vaccine here.
The best vaccine is the first one you can get, and that’ll be our ticket out of this mess.
