jakecoffman/walgreens-scraper

Walgreens Scraper is a tool built to solve a frustrating real-world problem: finding an available COVID-19 vaccine appointment. During the rollout, appointment slots at pharmacies were scarce and disappeared within minutes. This script automates the process of checking the Walgreens website for you and sends an email or text message alert the moment an appointment opens up, so you don't have to sit at your computer refreshing the page all day. The script works by essentially acting as a robotic web browser. It uses a tool called Selenium, which controls Google Chrome to visit the Walgreens website and read the page for available appointment slots. When it spots an opening, it triggers a notification to your phone or inbox. You just need to tell it which zip code to search by updating a single line in the script, and then it handles the repeated checking on your own computer. This tool was designed for everyday people who were trying to navigate the chaotic early days of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The creator built it for personal use when they were struggling to find a slot for themselves. Anyone with a Mac who was comfortable running a basic script could use it to monitor their local Walgreens. Instead of competing against thousands of other anxious individuals refreshing the same webpage, you could run this script in the background and wait for a text message telling you it was time to book. The project is intentionally simple and straightforward. It is built in Python and relies on Google Chrome, meaning you need to have Chrome installed on your computer for it to work. The setup process is minimal, though it does require some very basic familiarity with running Python scripts from a command line. The README doesn't go into detail on how to configure the text or email notifications, so users would need to look at the code itself to set that part up. It is a practical, purpose-built tool rather than a polished commercial product.