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 While many people are getting the required second doses, the process
is taking a toll on some of the most vulnerable - older adults who
in many cases rely on family members or friends to navigate complex
sign-up systems and inconvenient locations.
Available vaccines need to be given as two separate doses weeks
apart, and confusion is further taxing an already challenged system.
For example, Houston's health department on Friday told those
seeking a second dose to be patient, saying the volume of calls was
creating long wait times at its call center.
Practices vary. Seminole County in Florida schedules follow-ups
during the 15-minute observation period after people get their first
shots. New York's Onondaga County holds off on scheduling second
appointments until days before the shot.
After an online system showed no appointments, Stacey Champion
secured a second appointment for her 78-year-old friend Dan Pochoda
at Cardinal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona - at 1:51 a.m. on Feb. 9. It
took several calls to get even that, Champion said.
"If they had been saving appointments for second doses, would they
really need to send people way out to the edges of the city in the
middle of the night?" Champion asked.
Many providers expect their vaccine allocations to fall sharply this
week.
"When this started, it was only for hospitals. Now a smaller pot
needs to be divided between many more - the pharmacies, the mega
sites and everyone else," said Felipe Osorno, executive
administrator of continuum of care operations and value improvement
at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California.
People in recent days have been showing up at USC hospitals seeking
their second vaccine dose, saying their original vaccine provider
could not confirm an appointment, Osorno said.
[to top of second column] |
 As of Friday, nearly 23 million
people in the United States had received a first
vaccine shot, and almost 5 million had the
second, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
On Twitter, concerns about getting the second
shot are mixed with triumphant tweets by many
who got follow-ups on time, without drama.
St. John's Well Child and Family Center, a
network of public health centers in South and
Central Los Angeles, is running nine vaccination
clinics, and began administering second doses on
Jan. 25 after sending email and telephone
reminders to patients. Most
people are returning, but "we screamed and yelled" to secure second
doses on top of meeting the need for first shot appointments, said
Jim Mangia, the center's president.
West Virginia, a leader in getting shots into arms, hired critical
event management firm Everbridge to manage scheduling as it opens up
vaccinations to more groups.
"Any time there's ambiguity, that's not a good feeling," said Andy
Malinoski, marketing director for West Virginia's Department of
Commerce.
Guidelines call for a second shot of Moderna Inc's vaccine four
weeks after the first dose, while the gap is three weeks for the
Pfizer Inc/BioNTech vaccine. The CDC has said an interval as long as
six weeks is acceptable for either vaccine.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein;
Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Henderson)
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