Vaccine Hunters In EP: What Are They and Why You Shouldn't Be One

The term "vaccine hunters" is new, but so is everything in this pandemic. Suffice it to say that when I first heard the term, my imagination ran wild! I immediately pictured people or groups of people who could help connect vulnerable people, like the elderly, with information about the vaccines and appointments, they would even try to help them navigate the sometimes confusing appointment system. I was wrong.

Apparently, a vaccine hunter is someone who just shows up to a vaccination site at the end of the day, with no appointment set, and really no well thought out plan, in hopes of scoring a vaccine that may have been unused. So, there's your COVID-19 term for the day!

If you had never heard the term vaccine hunter and I just gave you an idea, I'm going to stop you right there. El Paso’s Fire Chief Mario D’Agostino tells KFOX that if you plan on doing that, you're wasting your time.

“There’s very little that we are left with at the end of the day and it’s a very rare occurrence that we do have some."

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According to D'Agostino, the city schedules a specific amount of vaccine appointments a day based on the allotment they receive each week- meaning every vaccine they receive is used in those appointments. Waiting in your car for what could be hours, is just wasting your time and everyone at the vaccination site.

D'Agostino says the best bet is just to be patient and wait for your turn.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.