UNC Health turns to Twitter to make sure leftover COVID vaccine doses are used
Twitter is good for something after all, especially if you’re around UNC Health’s Friday Center COVID-19 vaccine site and haven’t gotten your shot yet.
Beginning Wednesday, doctors at the Chapel Hill site launched a Twitter account — twitter.com/uncstandbycovi1 — to help distribute the handful of leftover doses they have at the end of the each day.
“We’re just looking for something that can make things a little bit quicker, get people out of the building faster,” said Dr. David Wohl, a UNC School of Medicine infectious disease physician, Wednesday in an interview with The News & Observer. He helps run the Friday Center vaccination site off N.C. 54.
An appointment is typically required to receive a shot at UNC’s Friday Center. UNC Health is vaccinating people in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4a.
But anyone can use the service to get a leftover shot, no matter which vaccination group they are in, according to a message sent from the account on Wednesday.
“The guiding principle is getting a dose in an arm without going to waste,” the message states.
People sometimes cancel or don’t show to their appointments. And once the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been thawed, they need to be used within hours so they don’t expire.
How to administer leftover vaccine
Dr. Daniel Park, the director of UNC’s pediatric emergency department, came up with the idea for the Twitter account. It’s basically a homemade version of the Dr. B app, which schedules appointments for leftover vaccines, that recently was featured in The New York Times.
Originally, they planned to tweet near the end of the day about available leftover doses. But a physician assistant suggested they send the tweet around lunchtime instead. By then, it’s typically known whether there will be extra doses available.
At 12:19 p.m. on Wednesday, the account sent a tweet saying people should call 984-974-3111 if they could be at the Friday Center within 20 minutes that afternoon. The account also urged people to unfollow it once they’ve received a COVID-19 vaccine.
The first eight to 10 people who get through the phone line are asked to come to the Friday Center at 4:30 p.m., Wohl said. People will hear a message when all doses are accounted for.
“They’re here, prepared and it’s much more efficient,” Wohl said.
From there, leftover doses will be given in the order of when people called the phone number. If there are not enough leftover shots for everyone, the callers will be able to make an appointment for the following day.
Helping others get their shot
This week, the site will receive 2,540 doses of vaccine, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services, including 2,340 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Wohl said while UNC Health has never wasted a dose, it is becoming more difficult to quickly find people to take the shots at the end of the day, particularly with the vaccine becoming available in places like local pharmacies.
In January, UNC received some scrutiny after two assistant basketball coaches received leftover vaccines at the Friday Center at the end of the day. But the clinic was following state guidelines of reaching out to community partners and finding people to give the vaccine to so it wouldn’t be thrown out, The N&O reported.
Wohl hopes that by putting the information on Twitter, there is a more even playing field, with those who follow the account either grabbing leftover appointments or helping older relatives secure a slot.
“I don’t want to call up my neighbor or my family member and say, ‘I’ve got this extra dose,’” Wohl said. “We want this to be equitable. It shouldn’t be friends and family. It’s a community, so word can get around.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM.