Many in America are turning to Twitter bots and alerts to book appointments for getting their coronavirus vaccine, thanks to the confusing websites and overbooked clinics.
AP
2/5
How do they work?
Twitter bots scan the websites that host booking information and alert users to open slots; there are small bits of code designed to do the trawling and inform people who’ve signed up for the notifications.
AFP
3/5
Are they helpful?
The bots are only useful to people who are tech savvy and can navigate social media with ease, which means people who can write code are at an even greater advantage with nothing stopping them from writing complex code to inform and in some cases even book appointments.
AP
4/5
Administration opposed
Healthcare officials are not very impressed with the bots, arguing that these pieces of code could bulk book appointments and in turn sell these slots for money. While there has been no evidence of such activity, counties are shutting down websites after people from far away booked appointments via bots.
Reuters
5/5
Safeguarding
US pharmacy giants Walmart and CVS say they have already put in place safeguards to prevent automated booking, using captchas and other methods, while local clinics are moving to booking slots the old-fashioned way - via phone call.
