EXPLAINED: How to sign up for spare Covid vaccine doses in France
The rollout of anti-Covid-19 vaccines in France is speeding up, but many people are still struggling to arrange an appointment for their dose. Two new online tools may be able to help.
As France strives to speed up its vaccination programme, the French government fears that 25 to 30 percent of doses will be lost due to logistical constraints.
"Never throw away a dose, it is the basic rule," said Health Minister Olivier Véran at press conference on March 25th.
However, at the end of the day, vaccination centres can end up with unused doses, for example if some patients do not turn up for their appointment made via the official Sante.fr site.
UPDATED: When will you be eligible for the Covid vaccine in France?
Two newly launched tools may help counter such waste.
1. Vite ma dose !
The Vite ma dose ! (Quick, my dose!) website, developed by Guillaume Rozier, the French data scientist behind the successful Covid Tracker site, automatically detects the next available vaccination appointments in a given area of France.
READ ALSO: CovidTracker: Who is the 24-year-old behind France’s most viewed Covid graphs?
🆕 Vous êtes éligible à la vaccination mais avez du mal à trouver une dose ? Découvrez Vite Ma Dose ! Ce nouvel outil détecte automatiquement le prochain RDV disponible dans votre département sur Doctolib. 👉 https://t.co/seusCBNDwx pic.twitter.com/rNDjBzvv8S
— GRZ (@GuillaumeRozier) April 1, 2021
Who can use it?
This is for people who are currently eligible for a vaccine under France's priority system. Eligible groups include over 70s, people with seriously illnesses of all ages, or people aged 50-74 with medical conditions such as diabetes or a BMI of 30 or above - you can find the full list of eligible groups HERE. Essentially this app is for people who qualify for the vaccine, but are struggling to find a vacant slot in their area.
How does it work?
Vite ma dose! allows users to scan, by département, vaccination slots available on Doctolib, in order to make an appointment quickly.
Doctolib is a medical website and app already widely used in France for booking vaccination appointments, as well as Covid tests or regular doctors’ visits.
READ ALSO: How to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine in France
To find the next appointment available on Vite ma dose !, users enter the department of their choice:
Photo: Vite ma dose ! / Covid Tracker
The website then shows a list of the upcoming available vaccination appointments in the selected area.
The example below is from a search of appointments available in Paris, March 6th, at 8.45am.
Photo: Vite ma dose ! / Covid Tracker
The information is updated several times a day.
By clicking "prendre rendez-vous" (make an appointment), the site directs the user straight to the Doctolib site to make the appointment.
2. The Covidliste website
Another new tool is the website Covidliste, which was created by two French data scientists and allows users to sign up to get an alert when unused doses of vaccine are available in their area.
Who can use it?
This is for everyone, even if they don't currently qualify for a vaccine. It's intended to eliminate waste by directing people to areas that have leftover doses or unfilled vaccine slots. You will need to be able to travel to an appointment at short notice, however.
How does it work?
All a user has to do is to enter their name, date of birth, address and contact information, and they will be placed on a waitlist for an inoculation.
The website sends an email with a link to confirm the appointment. If you sign up and don't receive an email, check your spam folders.
Covidliste is open to anyone, not just those already qualified for a vaccination dose.
"When a patient misses an appointment, the already opened bottle must be consumed quickly," the site states, explaining that the goal is to avoid wasting doses.
According to the website, nearly 271 318 people had signed up to receive doses on Monday, March 6th - up from 37,000 on Friday, April 2nd.
Where is France at with its vaccination scheme?
After a sluggish start, France's vaccination programme has sped up.
"We had an objective of 10 million receiving their first dose vaccinated on April 15th," Health Minister Véran told French TV channel TF1 on Monday. "Not only will we achieve this objective but we will even anticipate it by a few days."
▶ Manque de doses.
🗣 @olivierveran : "Nous n'avons aucun problème de logistique, nous avons un enjeu de livraison de vaccins [...] Nous avons fait le choix de vacciner en flux tendu. Oui, il y a des moments où il n'y a plus de doses dans les frigos."
📺 #LE13H @MSLacarrau. pic.twitter.com/r5BUuGisMa
— TF1Info (@TF1Info) April 5, 2021
Over 9 million first doses had been administered on March 4th, according to Vaccine Tracker.
In total, over 13.6 million doses have been administered.
That meant nearly 14 percent of the population had received at least one dose while nearly 5 percent had received both doses and are fully vaccinated.
As 38 new mass vaccination centres - so-called vaccinodromes - open across the country, the government is hoping to accelerate the process further, including the Stade de France which opened as a vaccine centre on Tuesday, April 6th.
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As France strives to speed up its vaccination programme, the French government fears that 25 to 30 percent of doses will be lost due to logistical constraints.
"Never throw away a dose, it is the basic rule," said Health Minister Olivier Véran at press conference on March 25th.
However, at the end of the day, vaccination centres can end up with unused doses, for example if some patients do not turn up for their appointment made via the official Sante.fr site.
UPDATED: When will you be eligible for the Covid vaccine in France?
Two newly launched tools may help counter such waste.
1. Vite ma dose !
The Vite ma dose ! (Quick, my dose!) website, developed by Guillaume Rozier, the French data scientist behind the successful Covid Tracker site, automatically detects the next available vaccination appointments in a given area of France.
READ ALSO: CovidTracker: Who is the 24-year-old behind France’s most viewed Covid graphs?
🆕 Vous êtes éligible à la vaccination mais avez du mal à trouver une dose ? Découvrez Vite Ma Dose ! Ce nouvel outil détecte automatiquement le prochain RDV disponible dans votre département sur Doctolib. 👉 https://t.co/seusCBNDwx pic.twitter.com/rNDjBzvv8S
— GRZ (@GuillaumeRozier) April 1, 2021
Who can use it?
This is for people who are currently eligible for a vaccine under France's priority system. Eligible groups include over 70s, people with seriously illnesses of all ages, or people aged 50-74 with medical conditions such as diabetes or a BMI of 30 or above - you can find the full list of eligible groups HERE. Essentially this app is for people who qualify for the vaccine, but are struggling to find a vacant slot in their area.
How does it work?
Vite ma dose! allows users to scan, by département, vaccination slots available on Doctolib, in order to make an appointment quickly.
Doctolib is a medical website and app already widely used in France for booking vaccination appointments, as well as Covid tests or regular doctors’ visits.
READ ALSO: How to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine in France
To find the next appointment available on Vite ma dose !, users enter the department of their choice:
Photo: Vite ma dose ! / Covid Tracker
The website then shows a list of the upcoming available vaccination appointments in the selected area.
The example below is from a search of appointments available in Paris, March 6th, at 8.45am.
Photo: Vite ma dose ! / Covid Tracker
The information is updated several times a day.
By clicking "prendre rendez-vous" (make an appointment), the site directs the user straight to the Doctolib site to make the appointment.
2. The Covidliste website
Another new tool is the website Covidliste, which was created by two French data scientists and allows users to sign up to get an alert when unused doses of vaccine are available in their area.
Who can use it?
This is for everyone, even if they don't currently qualify for a vaccine. It's intended to eliminate waste by directing people to areas that have leftover doses or unfilled vaccine slots. You will need to be able to travel to an appointment at short notice, however.
How does it work?
All a user has to do is to enter their name, date of birth, address and contact information, and they will be placed on a waitlist for an inoculation.
The website sends an email with a link to confirm the appointment. If you sign up and don't receive an email, check your spam folders.
Covidliste is open to anyone, not just those already qualified for a vaccination dose.
"When a patient misses an appointment, the already opened bottle must be consumed quickly," the site states, explaining that the goal is to avoid wasting doses.
According to the website, nearly 271 318 people had signed up to receive doses on Monday, March 6th - up from 37,000 on Friday, April 2nd.
Where is France at with its vaccination scheme?
After a sluggish start, France's vaccination programme has sped up.
"We had an objective of 10 million receiving their first dose vaccinated on April 15th," Health Minister Véran told French TV channel TF1 on Monday. "Not only will we achieve this objective but we will even anticipate it by a few days."
▶ Manque de doses.
— TF1Info (@TF1Info) April 5, 2021
🗣 @olivierveran : "Nous n'avons aucun problème de logistique, nous avons un enjeu de livraison de vaccins [...] Nous avons fait le choix de vacciner en flux tendu. Oui, il y a des moments où il n'y a plus de doses dans les frigos."
📺 #LE13H @MSLacarrau. pic.twitter.com/r5BUuGisMa
Over 9 million first doses had been administered on March 4th, according to Vaccine Tracker.
In total, over 13.6 million doses have been administered.
That meant nearly 14 percent of the population had received at least one dose while nearly 5 percent had received both doses and are fully vaccinated.
As 38 new mass vaccination centres - so-called vaccinodromes - open across the country, the government is hoping to accelerate the process further, including the Stade de France which opened as a vaccine centre on Tuesday, April 6th.
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