Originally published at: Apple Maps Now Lists COVID-19 Vaccination Sites - TidBITS
Apple Maps now lists COVID-19 vaccination sites, but it’s currently of questionable utility since you must be both eligible and have an appointment anyway.
It’s also not accurate. It fails to list key sites for testing and vaccination in my area (Reno, NV) while just listing pharmacy’s. Interestingly, Google also doesn’t list these sites, despite them being added to Google maps by local government entities and medical centers. This is probably a failure of how such strategic information is sourced and maintained. Public transport and road closures have a standardized source but it doesn’t look like this is the case for public health. Disaster planning doesn’t seem to have a developed API mechanism.
It’s not accurate in NYC either. In my area, it’s only listing two pharmacies; there are large nearby city and state run facilities that are dispensing shots, and handle larger numbers of appointments than drug stores can. There are also pop up locations that come and go at schools, houses of worship and community centers that aren’t listed. If Apple can’t do an accurate job with what could be an important service, they should keep their cyber mouths shut until they can get it to work,
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I concur, inaccurate information results in loss of trust. Neither Apple or Google show my county’s main drive up testing facility that’s operated in the same location for nearly (sadly) a year. How does Apple source this data? Popup locations are just as important to track, such sites must be registered with health authorities to legally function.
In NY the pop ups, like the medical locations, are either city and/or state government run or controlled. There are state and city vaccine finder websites that list locations for shots and links to set up appointments. And though it is somewhat easier to get an appointment now, Maps didn’t list the big dispensaries in two nearby hospitals, 1 high school, 1 college, or any of the pop ups or any of the other nearby drug stores or urgent care clinics. Apple should have done a better job.
Basically Apple is stuck playing a version of “whack-a-mole” as the vast majority of sites are temporary ones that may only open when there is sufficient vaccine. Where are the vaccines? If what the MSM reported is correct, the Feds bought enough vaccines to give every man, woman, and child in these United States whether legally or illegally one dose at an absolute minimum. Yet many sites are only given a handfull of doses and when they are gone, the site has to close until the Feds decide to allow more for that site.
Then there are places like California that changed their rules to give convicted felons priority over elderly citizens which further impacted the supply for the general public sites. So don’t blame Apple if a site pops up near you but is gone before Apple can add it to their data base.
I think a lot of this criticism of Apple—as opposed to the data itself, which was what we commented on—is unwarranted.
First off, this is very much a case of some data being better than no data, especially given that most people will have appointments to specific places that are mappable on their own.
Second, Apple is very clear that this information comes from a third-party—the VaccineFinder services developed by Boston Children’s Hospital. From the linked article:
Apple today updated Apple Maps with COVID-19 vaccination locations from VaccineFinder, a free, online service developed by Boston Children’s Hospital that provides the latest vaccine availability for those eligible at providers and pharmacies throughout the US.
Third, Apple has provided a way for data to be added to the system by appropriate businesses and other institutions.
Along with the data provided by VaccineFinder, healthcare providers, labs, or other businesses can submit information on COVID-19 testing or vaccination locations on the Apple Business Register page. Once validated, Apple may display information about the testing or vaccination locations to people using Apple services such as Apple Maps.