You just became eligible for a COVID-19 shot. Try these vaccine hunter tips to score an appointment.

After months of waiting, all Illinois residents ages 16 and older became eligible Monday for the COVID-19 vaccination outside of Chicago.

Now that the flood gates have opened, people are scouring websites and calling hotlines, wondering how to score an appointment when millions of people are vying for spots.

Complicating vaccine availability, Illinois, Cook County and Chicago health authorities on Tuesday paused distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over concern about blood clots and recommendations from the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Tribune reached out to several Illinois vaccine hunters for their best tips on getting appointments. The hunters are self-appointed volunteers who’ve been helping people get appointments through the Facebook group Chicago Vaccine Hunters, which had about 93,000 members as of Monday.

Here, they share what’s worked for them, keeping in mind that systems for getting appointments are constantly changing:

Choose a few sites to check

Vaccine hunters say it helps to look for appointments with multiple vaccine providers. If you’re only looking at one pharmacy chain, hospital or county site, it might take longer to find a slot.

“Be looking on multiple platforms! Don’t just rely on Walgreens or Jewel-Osco,” vaccine hunter Tyler Rickmon said in an email. Rickmon, 18, of Wilmington, said he’s found appointments for more than 40 people.

People should register with Cook County’s vaccination system at https://vaccine.cookcountyil.gov/, which often alerts people before appointments are about to be released, said Maria Koikas, who’s been helping people find appointments since February. Cook County’s mass vaccination sites are open to any Illinois resident age 16 or older.

People should also check appointments with store pharmacies offering the vaccine. But don’t overdo it, said Koikas, 40 of River Grove, who said she’s found appointments for more than 500 people.

“For the sake of sanity and the sake of avoiding frustration,” people don’t need to search 10 sites at once, she said. Picking two or three places to check should be enough to find an appointment.

Be flexible

If possible, be flexible with when and where you can get the shot.

Though appointment availability is always changing, Koikas says that if people are flexible with locations, dates and times they should be able to find spots reasonably close to their homes within about a week of searching.

“With patience and a little bit of flexibility, it should just take you a few days to get in somewhere that’s not five hours away,” she said.

That said, people can sometimes secure appointments more quickly by traveling far from their homes.

“I know people who have traveled 5, 6, 7, or even 8 hours — one way — to get their vaccine,” Rickmon said. “I know not everyone has the privilege of being able to stop what they are doing to drive multiple hours one way there and then back, but if you can drive far/have the ability to, it might make things a lot easier for you.”

Consider searching at odd hours

Vaccine providers release appointments at different times, but hunters say they often have luck at odd hours. Walgreens sometimes releases appointments early in the morning, between 6 and 7 a.m., though openings also have been added in the afternoons, Rickmon said.

Mariya Ivanova, 40, of Naperville, said she’s had luck finding appointments at Walgreens when she searches Friday mornings. Ivanova said she’s found appointments for more than 140 people.

CVS Health tends to release large numbers of appointments around midnight.

Be prepared

Have all the information you need to make an appointment before you begin searching for one, the hunters say. That includes name, birth date, address, email addresses, phone numbers, availability and, in some cases, health insurance information. If you find an appointment online and stop to think which times work best for you, you might lose the spot to someone else.

“Be as ready as possible and be at the point where you’re just going to pick whatever you can get and run with it,” Koikas said. “You don’t have too much time to think.”

You can always cancel the appointment later if you realize the time or date doesn’t work for you.

Also, take advantage of autofill functions on your computer or device, which will automatically fill basic information, such as your name and address, into online forms, helping you to snag appointments more quickly, she said.

Check social media

Join the Chicago Vaccine Hunters Facebook group and check it frequently. Members of the group post when they notice large numbers of appointments being released.

“So much information is shared in the group, ranging from open appointments, eligibility requirements, trying to help people secure appointments, success stories, where you can go, etc.,” said Rickmon, who is a moderator of the group. “It’s very helpful.”

Watch out for scammers

If you don’t feel that you can find an appointment yourself, try to find a trusted family member or friend to help you.

You might also consider turning to a volunteer like the ones available through the Facebook group. But if you go that route, be careful about the information you share. Never give a vaccine hunter your Social Security number. Hunters also don’t need your health insurance information to make appointments, though many vaccine providers will ask for it when you arrive for a shot.

If you decide to use a vaccine hunter, look at that person’s past posts in the Facebook group to make sure they’ve been helping others for a while, Koikas said.

“No one should ever ever be asked for financial information or Social Security,” she said. “If you are, run.”