Health / Wellness

What You Absolutely, Positively Need To Know About Booking Your COVID Vaccine Appointment In New York

With a little bit of help, you CAN book your COVID-19 vaccine appointment!

By Kathryn Rubino & Stephanie Wilkins  
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Beginning on Monday, April 6th, everyone over the age of 16 in New York State becomes eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination. That’s amazing news. That means every stressed out Biglaw associate billing mega hours to hit their special bonus threshold, every public defender struggling to find the best way to meet with clients, every in-house counsel wondering how much longer they’ll have to balance conference calls with their kids’ math lessons… everyone will be able to schedule an appointment for the vaccine.

That’s the good news, and it’s great. But the bad news is you’ll be dropped into a Byzantine and overlapping system of appointment scheduling that’s simply a beast to navigate.

But due to a combination of essential worker friends, elderly family members, and pre-existing conditions, it’s something we have a lot of experience with. In fact, we’ve been helping friends and family get vaccine appointments in New York since January — every time the group of eligible New Yorkers expanded slightly, there was someone else who needed an assist to get through the system.

So…. Welcome to Kathryn & Stephanie’s TED Talk on scheduling a vaccine in New York. May the odds be ever in your favor. Feel free to share far and wide.

First of all, know where you’re eligible to receive the vaccine. Some locations have residency requirements, others just require that you live OR work in New York state or New York City (depending on who runs the location). Also try to decide how long and how far you’re willing to travel for the vaccine. Kathryn made a five-hour round trip to secure each dose of the vaccine, but the more places you’re willing to travel to the more opportunities you have to secure an appointment. (Some folks are also unduly picky about which vaccine they can secure an appointment for, but our mantra is a familiar one to parents everywhere, you get what you get and you don’t get upset.)

Secondly, check with your medical provider. Many hospital systems have vaccine doses and open those appointments only to their own patients, so check to see if that’s an option. But if it’s been years since you made it to a primary care physician — we see you — fear not, there are still plenty of options to get the vaccine.

For all of the resources discussed below, time is of the essence. You just need to keep refreshing and act fast if something is available — appointments go immediately. Because of how quickly the appointments go, keep a word processing document opened with relevant information (address, DOB, insurance info — though that is optional and insurance is not required to receive a vaccine) to cut and paste details.

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You will lose appointments that are only available for brief moments before someone else scoops them up — unfortunately that is part of the process. Take heart and keep trying, you will get an appointment eventually.

  • Turbo Vax — Run by the Welcome to Chinatown grassroots movement, this website updates in real time government-run vaccine sites in NYC, and you can also follow them on Twitter for up-to-date information.
  • Vaccine List — Another aggregator site that automatically scans for available appointments around the city, and beyond (Westchester, Rockland County, and other suburbs are frequently included) and updates in real time when there are openings.
  • NYC Health + Hospitals vaccine scheduler — They release appointments at various times, but seem to be doing a drop of random appointments right at midnight every night at different locations.
  • The NYC DOH site — This is for scheduling available appointments at DOH-run vaccination centers. They tend to post new appointments between 6-7 PM ET. Again, not a guarantee.
  • Vaccine Finder — Takes you to the full list of sites near a zip code in NYC. This is important because it will also include several that ONLY make appointments by phone. For those, if you can get through and leave your name, they’ll call back to fill their slots as they get more vaccine.
  • New York State Scheduler — Scheduler for state-run and FEMA vaccination sites. Anyone who lives or works in New York State can go to any state site.
  • Vaccine Spotter — Will search all pharmacy locations for available appointments. Pharmacies are currently vaccinating people 30+, essential workers, and folks with pre-existing conditions. Here are the links/details for individual pharmacies as we know them:
  • Phone/text options — Limited options are available call 877-VAX-4NYC for the official NYC vaccine line. You can also text SIVAX to 51555 for Staten Island specific vaccine information.
  • Walk-in appointments — 3 NYC locations currently offer limited walk-in appointments. To qualify for a walk-in you must be 75+ BUT those folks are allowed to bring a friend to get vaccinated with them (the friend must also qualify to receive a vaccine, which, as of Monday, is anyone 16+). The locations with walk-in slots available:
    • Brooklyn Army Terminal
      140 58th Street
      Brooklyn, NY 11220
    • Bathgate Contract Postal Station
      4006 3rd Avenue
      Bronx, NY 10457
    • Citi Field
      36-2 126th St
      Queens, NY 11368

The whole system is pretty much a nightmare, but things do open up. Good luck!

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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