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The United States has entered a delicate phase of the COVID-19 vaccination effort as providers try to increase the number of people receiving the first vaccines while ensuring that a growing number of others people receive second doses just as millions more Americans become eligible to receive vaccines.
The need to give each person two doses every few weeks apart significantly complicates the largest vaccination campaign ever in the country. And continuing uncertainty about future vaccine supplies is fueling concerns that some people will not be able to receive their second injection on time.
In some cases, local health departments and healthcare providers have said they need to temporarily curb or even cancel appointments for first doses to ensure there are enough second doses for people. in need.
Nola Rudolph said she has struggled to make appointments for her 71-year-old father and 68-year-old mother, who live in upstate New York. Everywhere she looked at driving distance was reserved.
“Seeing that they were eligible, I was delighted,” she said. “Seeing that they were in a dead zone, I went from very optimistic to desperate.”
She was able to arrange a second dose for her father but has yet to find a place for her mother. “It’s like going in circles.”
Since about last month, the United States has administered an average of 900,000 first doses per day, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by the Associated Press. Now, many of those people are due for a second dose, and the average number of Americans receiving a second injection hit an all-time high on Tuesday – 539,000 per day over the past week.
The increasing demand for second doses comes as the Biden administration takes steps to increase the supply of doses.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced on Tuesday that states will see their dose allocation increase to 11 million per week from next week, up more than 2 million weekly doses since last week. President Joe Biden takes office.
Since the vaccine was licensed in late December, approximately 33 million people in the United States have received vaccines.
“It’s really important and essential to recognize that there are still not enough doses for everyone,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, about 10% of the US population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. About 3% received both doses, AP analysis showed.
In Los Angeles County, health officials say limited supplies mean the majority of vaccinations this week will be for second doses. In Napa County, State, some appointments for the first doses were canceled last week to ensure there would be enough for the second doses.
“We get a lot of questions from community members asking, ‘Is my second dose in danger?’ And at the moment we don’t have an answer because it all depends on the inventory that comes from the state, ”said Alfredo Pedroza, a county supervisor.
The two COVID-19 vaccines distributed in the United States require two injections a few weeks apart to maximize protection. For Pfizer, the doses are supposed to be three weeks apart. For Moderna, it’s four weeks. But if necessary, the recall can be delayed for up to six weeks, according to the CDC, which updated its forecast late last month.
State and local health officials are now highlighting the extended delay in public messages to alleviate fears people will not get their second injection on time.
Federal officials said they were confident there would be enough doses for people to get their second injection.
The difficulty in reserving the second dose is fueling concerns in some places. While many places schedule the recall when the first shot is given, others ask people to schedule it later due to logistical issues.
Tanny O’Haley is 64 and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, but is not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Los Angeles County, where he lives. He was able to receive a first dose when he accompanied his 69-year-old wife to her vaccination because the site had a vaccine remaining.
O’Haley was unable to schedule his second dose despite numerous appeals to local authorities and the county health department. He plans to try again when he brings his wife on his second date on Wednesday.
“The whole experience was pretty awful,” O’Haley said.
In New Hampshire, officials abandon current planning system after thousands of people fight to reserve their boosters within the recommended time frame – some with appointments for two months later. People will now receive appointments for their second shots when they get their first.
New Hampshire is one of many local jurisdictions that have registered to use the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS.
At the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, another kind of scheduling problem arose last week when the site opened as a dedicated second-dose-only clinic. When appointments were made available online, people hungry for their first doses grabbed the slots.
“We had enough shots – we just need to control the crowd somehow,” said JoAnn Rupiper of the Southern Nevada Health District.
People who scheduled a first dose at the site have had their appointments canceled, Rupiper said. To ensure that eligible people who have struggled to score online appointments get their second injection, the convention center is allowing walk-in tours.
Despite the confusion of schedules, health officials and providers say their main challenge remains the limited supplies and the variability in the number of doses distributed from week to week. Even with the increase in shipments announced by President Joe Biden’s administration, local officials and suppliers say they don’t have enough doses to meet demand.
The shortage is one of the reasons Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, noted the potential value of the single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, who recently applied for authorization to emergency use. This cliché is also cheaper to produce and easier to ship.
Pedroza said last week’s cancellations in Napa County, California came after a spike in shipments a few weeks ago, leading the county to believe it would continue to receive at least as many doses. . But the peak turned out to be a one-time boon, Pedroza said.
In Seattle, UW Medicine temporarily stopped making new appointments in late January due to limited supply, combined with the need to give others their second doses.
“If there were more supply, we would be happy to make more appointments for the first dose,” said Cynthia Dold, associate vice president of clinical operations at UW Medicine.
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Associated Press reporters Paul J. Weber in Texas, Nicky Forster in New York, Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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