Vaccine issues:
Scheduling second dose is tough for some.
It hasn’t been easy for some people who received their first COVID-19 vaccine to schedule the second shot needed to boost immunity.
They’re frustrated and feeling overlooked and left behind, but health officials want to minimize concerns.
Appointments and second doses are guaranteed for those individuals who got their first shot at State Farm Stadium, Arizona’s large-scale state run-site, officials say. And a change in approach should make the situation better for those who got shots there beginning Jan. 22.
The first group of people vaccinated between Jan. 11 and Jan. 21 at the stadium located in Glendale should receive an email from the Arizona Department of Health Services with an invitation to sign up for their second dose.
Some say they haven’t received that email. Others have but say it directs them to the general registration website, which seems to show no available appointments. Still others said they made a phone call and stayed on the line to successfully schedule an appointment.
The state says that every dose administered at a state-run site has a second dose reserved, but some people are still concerned they won’t be able to access theirs in time given the email they did or did not receive.
Two doses of the vaccine at a recommended interval are required for maximum protection against COVID-19.
Eugene Washington, 77, got vaccinated with his wife at State Farm Stadium Jan. 16. He said they got an email from the state Sunday night to sign up for their second shots, but the website appeared to show no appointments.
“I’m sure this is a widespread problem that probably affects thousands of us,” he said. “I’m feeling really frustrated. My wife and I, on the 6th of February, if we have an appointment or not, we’re going to go back over to State Farm and see if we can get our second dose.”
More than 40,000 people had made their second dose appointments at State Farm Stadium as of Monday, according to the state health department.
“While I don’t know exactly what (they’re) seeing (online), be sure to look for Glendale POD Dose 2,” as the location once on the scheduling webpage, ADHS spokesperson Steve Elliott wrote in an email. “I’m seeing appointments toward Feb. 20. Search on each day to see what’s available.”
ADHS tweeted screenshots of the website to help walk people through the second dose registration process for State Farm Stadium. People should change the date to February and then choose the event called ‘State of Arizona POD — Glendale Dose 2.’
“For a number of reasons, there is a group that hasn’t gotten an invitation to register for a second dose at the stadium. We are inviting them manually over the course of this week. In some cases, we will call,” Elliott said.
Some people have said they’ve been able to schedule their second shots by calling the state health department and waiting on hold to register with a person.
The health department’s COVID-19 hotline is 844-542-8201. Readers have also said they called 480-573-0332 and 602-542-1000 (numbers for technical help with registration) and were able to get through to a person to schedule their appointment through the state health department.
Carol Sue McDaniel, 70, said she called several times until she had her second shot in the books after not yet receiving an email to schedule one.
“We were supposedly guaranteed our second shot at State Farm Stadium, so I didn’t want to take any chances that my second shot would exceed the recommended 21 days,” she said.
McDaniel got her first shot on Jan. 19 as a “tagalong” with her 80-year-old friend. She said she’s worried that people who got their first doses there between Jan. 11 and Jan. 21 are “falling into the crack of this system.”
“That was my concern, so I was just very aggressive and proactive and just kept calling the helpline, and finally I got through to a person.”
New scheduling system may help
The state has adjusted its approach to make matters easier.
Since Friday, second-dose appointments at State Farm Stadium are being scheduled while patients wait in the wellness lot after receiving their first dose at the site.
McDaniel said it should have been that way from the very start so 10 days’ worth of vaccinated individuals weren’t “stuck in the middle” of a changing system.
“It doesn’t seem right that the Arizona Department of Health Services decides in the middle of a vaccination rollout that they will just change their protocol,” she said. “That tells me that the Arizona Department of Health Services knows that there is something wrong with their protocol: that it is cumbersome, it is not user friendly, you cannot get onto their computer system.”
The second dose sign-up process is expected to run more smoothly now at the state-run sites.
2nd doses at vaccination sites run by Maricopa County
Other vaccination locations are handling sign-ups in different ways. People should ask when they receive their first shot about how to sign up for the second. County health departments may also be able to help individuals register for second shots.
Some people who received their first doses at Maricopa County PODs also have reported stress in booking their second appointments.
Those who have not heard about their second dose sign up process can fill out a survey (https://www.survey monkey.com/r/1ADose2) to let the county know. Public health officials will contact individuals, prioritized based on first dose date, about how and where to schedule their appointment, including through the state’s registration system.
Those who were vaccinated at Chandler’s Dignity Health POD or Goodyear’s Abrazo POD sites will be emailed an invitation from the ADHS registration system to schedule their second dose, according to the county.
The county announced Monday a partnership with Grand Canyon University to open a POD site starting Tuesday that is dedicated to providing second doses for phase 1A and 1B individuals.
“We know that it has been tough to schedule second dose appointments with so much demand at public sites, so for the time being, the GCU site will be invitation-only to those who received a first dose at county-run PODs,” according to the county.
Individuals will be invited to schedule their second shot based on when they got their first dose to make sure people get vaccinated close to the recommended timeframe. The GCU site accommodates both drive-up and walkthrough options.
The county last week said it was also working with health system partners, retail pharmacies and other vaccinators to establish vaccination events and other ways for people who can’t get their second dose at county PODs.
Individuals do not need to get their second dose at the same location as their first, but it does need to be the same type of vaccine (i.e. Pfizer or Moderna).
Statewide, more than 458,000 total vaccine doses had been administered as of Monday, including about 69,600 people who have received both doses, according to state data.
What’s the time frame for getting the 2nd shot?
The CDC recommends that the second dose be administered “as close to the recommended interval as possible.”
Pfizer shots are recommended to be 21 days apart; Moderna shots should be 28 days apart. A grace period of four days earlier than that is OK, according to the CDC.
Second shots can be administered slightly later than the recommended interval of three or four weeks.
“If it is not feasible to adhere to the recommended interval, the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be scheduled for administration up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose,” according to the CDC as of Jan. 21. “There are currently limited data on efficacy of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines administered beyond this window. If the second dose is administered beyond these intervals, there is no need to restart the series.”