This post is based on personal experience and those of others interested in helping people get vaccinated at Publix.
The website:
COVID-19 Vaccine in Florida | Publix Super Markets
Current notice on the Publix website: “All available COVID-19 vaccine appointments have been claimed. There is tremendous demand for the vaccine and a limited supply, so check back on Wednesday, January 27 after 6:00 a.m. EST (5:00 a.m. CST) for your next opportunity.”
Big picture:
1. Be prepared to wait up to two hours if you get lucky enough to get to a sign-up page. On Wednesday 1/20, I was lucky enough to be let in at 6:45. The 24,400 spots were fully booked at about 7:45 with 250,000 applicants that day, according to Publix. The odds: 10:1. Many did not get to the sign-up page at all.
2. On Friday, 1/22, I was let into a sign-up page at 7:39. There were 48,900 sign up spots available, with more than 300,000 users. The odds improved to 6:1, but most users did not get to the sign up site again.
3. Scan the Publix locations. Decide how far you are willing to travel and possibly even select stores before you attempt to register. If you think about it during the sign up process, you will lose time. If you’re a data nerd, consider population per store and income per capita of the county.
All Stores with vaccines are listed here:
https://www.publix.com/covid-vaccine...store-list.pdf
4. Given the difficulty of getting out of the queue and onto a sign up page, use multiple browsers. Be prepared to abandon all but one browser if you get to the sign up page and concentrate on filling out that form as quickly as possible.
Details:
1. Spinning the wheel: Sign onto the website a little before 6 and hit the refresh button frequently. THE INITIAL TIMING IS CRITICAL, since only a small number of people are let into the sign-up portal at a time. Here is an official twitter statement from Publix on that point:
“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.”
Translation: If you don’t get in initially, there will probably be a long wait if you get in at all.
2. Refreshing: Assuming you are not taken to a sign up page, Publix says not to refresh the page manually. Their twitter statement is “We do not recommend refreshing the page manually.” It is followed by the boilerplate above: “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 the original queue is maintained, but some stories point to wild luck.
3. Counties: The list of counties on the main page will indicate if appointments are still available, but that’s an indicator only. The counties will never turn into live links. It’s frustrating, but unavoidable, to see the status go from “Appointments Available“ to “Fully Booked” while you’re in the queue.
4. Entry Notification: If and when the system allows you to register, you will be notified by a rectangular icon just BELOW the county list. DO NOT MAKE THE (COMMON) MISTAKE of waiting for an invitation on the county list or for a county to turn into an active link.
5. Personal Information: You are then asked for personal information. You should rush through this, since your spot is NOT CONFIRMED UNTIL YOU GET ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE SIGN UP PROCESS. Since you may re-enter this section if your selected time slot isn’t available, auto-fill helps.
You are asked for the usual personal information: name, address, phone, birth date, and email address (where they send a confirmation). You are also asked if you if you are a “Publix Associate and have a Medicare number. Say “no” to save time, since you can present it at your appointment.
6. County: The county selection is next. Caveat: Once you pick a county, you are then asked to pick a store within that county, and a date and a time for that store. The selection of the county is the first part of a string. Be prepared to be taken back to this point if your selection is unavailable by the time you get to the end of the registration process. Think about ways to improve your odds. What is the least likely county, store, date and time others would choose? For example, we noticed that counties and stores in the panhandle tended to have greater odds.
7. Store: The store selection is next. Again, the closest is not necessarily the one most likely to have available spots.
8. Time and date: You will then be offered a date. Consider choosing a date farther out or one you think is least selected. Same for appointments times, which comes next. Remember you will ultimately compete against others within that same time slot.
9. Health questions: You are then asked 14 health questions. Here is the exact list to allow you to move through the list quickly. NOTE: They should not be all “NO” answers.
H1. Emergency Contact Name
H2. Emergency Contact Number
H3. Are you 18 years of age or older? - YES!
H4. Do you have a cold, fever, or acute illness?
H5. Do you have any allergies to medications, food, or any vaccine? If yes, please list.
H6. Are you allergic to chicken eggs or egg products?
H7. Are you allergic to Thimerosal (cleaning products or contact lens solution)?
H8. Have you ever had a serious reaction after receiving a vaccination?
H9. Have you ever been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome?
H10. Do you have a seizure, brain, or nerve problem?
H11. Are you the patient? If no, enter your name and relationship to the patient. - YES!
H12. Are you attending a clinic? If yes, please enter location.
H13. Would you like to be notified about other immunizations?
H14. Have you already received an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine?
10. Review and confirm: You then review and confirm the information you entered.
11. Consent form: Not done yet! You are then asked to acknowledge a consent form.
12. Not a Robot: You are then asked to prove you are not a robot. This may involve the usual stop lights and buses but is only asked once in case you have to repeat the process.
13. Submit! Only at this point does the system decide if the selected time is still available.
14. Confirmation page: If you made the cutoff, you are presented with a confirmation page which has a “print” option towards the top. Printing is recommended, since the emailed confirmation will only have a code on it for privacy reasons.
15. Time not available: If your time was not available, you are taken back to picking a county (step #6 above). Note that you will have to enter the medical information over again! SUGGESTION: Think about the strategy for retries (county, store, date, time) to make repeated selections as efficient as possible.
16. Additional people: If you do get a confirmation, you have the opportunity to “Book another appointment” at the bottom of the appointment confirmation page.
You now start at step 5 (see above) by entering the second individual’s personal information. You do not have to wait in the queue again.