The CDC teamed up with Boston Children's Hospital and healthcare software company Castlight Health to launch a website to help Americans find which vaccine providers in their area have COVID-19 vaccines in stock, according to a Feb. 24 NPR report.
The site, called VaccineFinder, allows users to enter their ZIP code to see inventory data from vaccine providers in their region. Providers are supposed to update their COVID-19 vaccine stock data to VaccineFinder every 24 hours, according to John Brownstein, PhD, the tool's founder and Boston Children's Hospital's chief innovation officer.
"The idea is to show where COVID-19 vaccine providers [are] that are open to the public — how to contact them, how to book an appointment, and try to show the daily inventory status so people are clear where there's vaccine and where there isn't," Dr. Brownstein told NPR.
Dr. Brownstein said the project's goal is to "reduce some of the noise and confusion" Americans face when trying to secure a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. He also said he expects more vaccine providers in more ZIP codes to join VaccineFinder in coming weeks.