When the COVID-19 vaccine became available in early 2021, everyone tried to get their hands on the elusive vaccine. Appointments began filling quickly, with eligible individuals scrambling to book an appointment through the online booking portals. Extra vaccines from no-show appointments or cancellations forced healthcare providers to administer the dose within hours of removing the vaccine from cold storage.
Before the Dr. B vaccine list, healthcare workers offered the extra vaccine doses to shoppers within the area or frantically started calling available patients for immediate openings. Unfortunately, this method wasn’t always without issues. Many situations prevented the medical team from administering the dose before expiry. In these situations, the team was forced to discard the expired amounts.
To minimize vaccine waste overall, Cyrus Massoumi started the Dr. B platform. This website worked to connect eligible individuals with available COVID-19 doses within their area. It also worked to reduce unnecessary waste of valuable resources. The program was entirely free for both individuals and clinics. After closing the registration, Dr. B connected with 755 clinics across the United States and 2.5 million users.
As the vaccine distribution started in early 2021, individual states were responsible for developing and integrating criteria and protocols for vaccine qualification. In the priority sequencing, eligibility factors included health, pre-existing health conditions, age, and employment. Individuals who met all outlined protocols or previously determined criteria could register online for an appointment. Unfortunately, the sudden surge in vaccine requests meant users faced difficulty booking online appointments.
The COVID-19 vaccine scarcity progressed as governments began loosening restrictions and criteria. Many people became increasingly frustrated with an inability to register for an online appointment. Users fought websites crashing, limited appointments, minimal online support, and extensive queues. The frustration continued for many as long lineups at clinics quickly became the new norm.
Many clinics were stuck to the online scheduling portal without access to a universal standby list. Many clinics removed immunizations from cold storage daily, using quantities confirmed through the online portal. Most clinics struggled with vaccine appointment cancellations, leaving approximately 30% of the vaccine surplus due to no-shows or cancellations. The responsibility fell on the individual facility to fill any extra vaccine overstock. All vaccine administration was time-sensitive, bringing an expiry within hours of removal. Despite a persistent nationwide shortage, vaccines that couldn’t be administered within the projected expiry had to be discarded.
Finding a clinic or facility with available vaccinations during the initial rollout was nearly impossible. Cyrus Massoumi wanted to minimize vaccine waste during a time of scarcity while continuing to help connect Americans with clinics holding an available dose. Both clinics administering the shot and individuals needing the immunization could register through Dr. B completely free.
The vaccine list offered a simple registration page for anyone wanting to join the waitlist. Collected information, including name, address, contact information, employment details, and any ongoing health concerns.
The website used risk categories and qualifications of individual states and closely followed any government parameters for updates or changes. After joining the platform, Dr. B’s algorithm would categorize the applications by priority and offer a placeholder status within the risk group. Candidates would automatically receive notifications when the nearby clinic had a surplus vaccine opening.
According to Massoumi, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) didn’t govern the Dr. B website or information collected. Regardless, the platform believed in holding all medical information to the same standard determined by HIPAA. While registration was open, the platform offered bank-level encryption, keeping all personal information secure on the website.
All registered clinics would upload the predicted surplus of COVID-19 immunizations (including the expiration and quantity) on the Dr. B website. Once uploaded, the Dr. B website cross-reference anyone registered with those in the same geographic area.
Qualified candidates would receive a text message from the Dr. B website of an appointment opening. After a patient confirms the appointment time, the clinic will receive an automated confirmation.
Dr. B’s algorithm subsequently put any individual who declined an appointment at the back of the appropriate risk category. Dr. B then contacted the next available candidate with the vaccine information until an eligible patient could make the appointment.
During the initial website launch, Dr. B had two registered clinics. As the popularity of the standby list continued to grow, so did the clinic and individual registrations. As a small start-up company, Dr. B successfully sent over one million notifications to potential candidates. Toward the end of the campaign, Dr. B held over 755 unique vaccine locations across the U.S. Individual registrations subsequently exceeded 2.5 million registrations by the end of the campaign.