With 27 followers, this mom's Twitter page is best for finding Delaware pharmacy vaccines

Imagine if there were a central website that showed in real time when vaccination appointments opened at Delaware pharmacies?

Well, there is. And it's run by an iPhone-armed Middletown mother and has 130 followers.

That's right. The one spot to monitor for updates from the majority of First State drug stores is on a Twitter account run out of a suburban home with fewer followers than most trolls.

Since many Delawareans have been on a prolonged, stressful hunt for vaccines in a state without a central clearinghouse for appointments, it is left to Susan Steward, a 35-year-old data analyst.

She hasn't been constantly refreshing pharmacy websites like many of us have in recent weeks to get it done. And she isn't data scraping, either.

Instead, she studied the algorithms of each pharmacy, tracking when they update their sites on spreadsheets and correlograms. Soon, patterns emerged and now she knows when to check their sites.

She provides updates from Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Acme and Crofton Pharmacy, which covers the vast majority of drugstores in the state.

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"I am the search engine for the appointments," she said of her site before turning to how she does it. "I hate to say this, but it's kind of like card counting."

When the pharmacies post appointments, she swings into action. That's when she copies the information and posts to her unassuming Twitter page named caffeinated.insights (twitter.com/CaffeinatedI) with the name of the pharmacy, address, dates of open appointments and the type of vaccine available.

Whether its 6 a.m. or midnight, her Twitter page is busy with updates each day as new appointments roll in.

And this all happens while she keeps her own life on the rails.

She works from home these days as a fiscal analyst for Washington, D.C. while husband William works as a clinical social worker at Elkton's Union Hospital. At the same time, her 8-year-old is virtually learning at home and her 2-year-old is potty training.

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Suffice to say, she knows how families are juggling a lot these days. And that's why she decided to use her skills to help connect Delawareans with vaccines, knowing not everyone has the time or ability to go on an hourslong vaccine hunt.

"You can now go about your day doing whatever you want and when it dings, it's been updated," Steward said of those who follow her page and use notifications. "It saves you that time of hitting refresh. And if I can help alleviate one thing people have to do in their day, that's a great service I'm providing.

"It's the Delaware Way. We all care about each other."

She said she personally knows of about 40 people who used her information to find their vaccine appointments after a frustrating search of their own.

Steward's metamorphosis into Delaware's Vaccine Hunter started when she began searching for vaccines for her in-laws, who have helped watch her children during the pandemic.

Once they were covered, the data analyst began to learn the pattern of pharmacy postings and also shared appointments for friends who were still in need. 

Soon, it got a bit out of hand with people texting her while she was in work meetings, so she decided to post the information on her Twitter page a couple of weeks ago for all to see.

In recent days, she also began a Facebook page (facebook.com/CaffeinatedInsights) with an eye on reaching more people. She knows the demand for the information she is providing is far greater than her number of followers suggest.

Steward, who earned her master's degree in economics at the University of Delaware, said she was surprised the state of Delaware itself didn't have a site like hers coordinating vaccination openings, especially considering the rush to vaccinate against the virus.

Jonathan Starkey, Gov. John Carney's spokesperson, admitted "the process can be frustrating" and pointed to the state's centralized waitlist (vaccinerequest.delaware.gov) where anyone 16 and older can sign up for state-operated and state-coordinated events.

"As for pharmacies, they’re receiving their own direct shipments of the vaccine from the federal government, and have their own appointment systems," he said, pointing to the links to participating pharmacies at de.gov/getmyvaccine.

Starkey added, "We appreciate all the Delawareans who are helping their neighbors through this process."

As for Steward, the Rehoboth Beach native plans to continue doing her (outsized) part to hep get Delawareans vaccinated by continuing to post appointments, even as she juggles her own busy pandemic life.

She contracted COVID in March 2020. And as an asthmatic, it hit her hard with breathing problems, severe fatigue and a loss of taste and smell for months.

"I can't imagine living like that again," she said, adding that it fuels her drive to help Delawareans get vaccinated. "Doing this really brings me a sense of happiness."

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormierdelawareonline) and Twitter (@ryancormier).