[gpk111]

This post discusses the intricacies of getting from the queue to the sign-in process. A related post (“A Gambler’s Guide to Winning a Publix Vaccine Appointment") navigates you through the sign-up process to raise your odds of getting an appointment.

Once you’re in the queue, you can watch a counter while the page refreshes every minute. You can also see the number of appointments left available in each county.
The official Publix statement is to simply wait at this point: “We do not recommend refreshing the page manually. We are limiting the number of people in our reservation system to ensure our site remains stable. Our waiting page refreshes every minute while more people are let in to book their appointments.” The implication is that applicants are let in on a first come, first served basis.

However, analysis shows that the queuing system does not work as expected. The transfer from the queue to the sign-up system is often not based on timing (nor device type, carrier, or speed). The system is also opaque in that it does not display your place in line.

Here are 6 suggestions below for your consideration.

Caveat: This is pure speculation based on discussions with a number of tech-savvy people and other users, but none of the comments are based on information from any of the Publix web designers or other internal contacts. Ultimately, none of these things may make any difference. The current implementation of the Publix queuing system may just be broken and randomly transfers users to the reservation system.

1. Use multiple browsers if possible. Three or four are probably optimum. If one browser is granted entry into the reservations system, be prepared to abandon the remaining ones immediately, since the active one will require all your attention. Publix says it’s sufficient to have one browser.

2. Confirm each browser is the latest version. Publix also emphasizes this. Also try to use different browsers (Firefox, Edge, Chrome, etc)

3. Sign in early and wait. It looks like the system refreshes the open browsers automatically immediately after launching. There may not be a need to manually refresh at the beginning and try to time the launch. Suggestion: watch the screen to see if the counter started by itself. If it did, do nothing. If you see the screen change (implying that the sign up window has been opened) and the counter has not started, then refresh manually. On 1/29, the window was open at 5:58 AM, so theoretically, whatever browser was activated would have been toward the top of the queue.

4. Watch the counters and the remaining sign up slots for the counties of interest. As long as the counters are running, do not manually refresh. In theory, you would go to the end of the line. If the available slots start to dwindle, you may want to consider a “Hail Mary” pass on one of the browsers. See below.

5. The sign up window should last at least an hour, so there is ample time to make decisions while you’re watching the availability by county. Depending on your gambling instincts, you can “let the clock run out” by doing nothing (the official Publix recommendation) or you can choose to manually refresh anytime before the spots in your selected county are gone. Trying it both ways has proven to be inconclusive. Here is some data to keep in mind, based on observations from sampled counties on both the 1/27 and 1/29 enrollment windows.
o There are about 150 doses allotted per store
o The number of stores per resident over 65 varies by county
o The depletion curves for the two days are remarkably similar.
o It takes about 10 minutes before there are any decreases.
o About 50% of appointment slots are gone in about 30 minutes
o 75% are gone within 45 minutes
o Almost all are gone within about 70 minutes
o Stores in the panhandle get the least amount of bookings and linger to about 80 minutes, but they are still not accessible to those in the queue.

6. If you are admitted to the reservation system, the counter will stop and the text changes. If that happens, make sure you immediately drop down below the county list (you will not be able to select a county on that page) and select “BOOK AN APPOINTMENT.” You do not have to drop down to check for the appearance of that "BOOK AN APPOINTMENT " box. Once you’re “in,” you can book up to four appointments. Note that if a red circle should show up in the “SUBMIT” button (happens frequently after the second or third appointment), you can not fix it by going back to prior screens and changing a selection (store, date, time). Abandon or reboot that browser.

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