When do you need to get second shot?
Waiting longer — six, seven, eight weeks — is fine, says Mercy doctor.
Beth and Dave Townsend found themselves in a similar position as others getting the two-shot novel coronavirus vaccine: They hadn’t scheduled their second shot.
But health officials say that’s not a major problem.
The Butler County couple, 80 and 82 years old, received their first shot of the Moderna COVID19 vaccine on Jan. 19 and were eligible for the second shot, which acts as a booster, four weeks later. Beth Townsend said she and her husband “both have significant health issues.”
“There was no mention of making an appointment when we left,” she said of the vaccine clinic hosted by the Butler County General Health District on Liberty-Fairfield Road.
They became concerned after the fourth week passed. They were placed on a waiting list, but when vaccines first became available to the public, demand significantly outweighed the supply.
The three- and four-week windows to receive the second shots for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are “a minimum, not a maximum number of days,” said Mercy Health-Cincinnati Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Stephen Feagins. It’s fine if the second dose isn’t right at minimum inoculation windows, and a longer wait is not bad, he said.
“We have good evidence now that waiting longer, six, seven, eight weeks, produces possibly a better long-term antibody effect,” he said.
It’s not unlike childhood vaccines. The MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) shots are in a series, and “every time you get a booster or a second dose, you’re kind of confirming the antibody response,” Feagins said.
While it’s not crucial to hit the scheduling timeframes, the Townsends’ issue reinforces the need to schedule a second-dose appointment before leaving after receiving the first shot, said Erin Smiley, health promotion director for the Butler County General Health District.
“Ideally, and because of how the vaccine is allocated from the state, people should receive their second shot from the same vaccine provider that they received their first,” she said.
The process runs more smoothly as many providers schedule both shot appointments simultaneously. If people don’t have a second dose appointment, there are providers scheduling for just the second shot as long as people have their COVID-19 vaccination card provided at the first shot appointment.
The Townsends eventually received their second shot last week at a local Kroger Pharmacy, they said.
There is no booster for Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine, which is a one-dose shot.
Managing the shot process may be more efficient as the Ohio Department of Health is in the process of rolling out a Vaccine Management System, Smiley said. This system will allow people to create their own patient portal, find a location within their home county, and schedule an appointment without having to pre-register or go on a waiting list, she said.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Tuesday there will be enough vaccine supply in the country “for every adult in America by the end of May.” There are an estimated 250 million-plus adults in the United States, according to the U.S. Census.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday 15 longterm mass vaccination clinics will open throughout Ohio in the coming weeks, including ones in Cincinnati and Dayton.
“Mass vaccination clinics have always been part of our plan, but adequate supply is necessary for larger sites, so it was crucial that we first established local provider sites in all 88 counties to ensure that every citizen in every community has a provider nearby,” DeWine said.