⏩ Conn. health officials say it’s preferred, but not required, to receive both vaccine doses at the same location.

“We are not ‘requiring’ it, but we are encouraging individuals to get their first and second dose at the same clinic for tracking and supply purposes. However, we are not turning anyone away if they scheduled an appointment for a second dose at one of our clinics, but got their first dose elsewhere.”

Amy Forni, a spokeswoman at Nuvance Health

Anthony Santella was trying to help his father schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments, but he says he was twice denied at one facility.

Santella, who lives on Long Island, had easily scheduled his father, an 81-year-old Norwalk resident, for his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Norwalk Community Health Center. But he was unable to get an appointment for his father to get the second dose there.

He tried to find his dad a second appointment, through the state’s Vaccine Administration Management System website, and by calling around, including to Stamford Hospital.

“After an hour on hold, I was told that I can’t schedule a second dose if he hadn’t had the first there,” Santella said, adding he called a week later and was told the same thing.

Stamford Hospital spokeswoman Andrea Jodko said she was surprised to hear that anyone had been turned away for their second dose since “that isn’t our policy.”

She said people are encouraged to schedule both shots at the hospital, but staff should not reject anyone who didn’t receive the first dose with Stamford Health.

“In line with guidance from the state, we recommend that individuals receive their first and second doses from the same facility; however, we do not require it,” Jodko said in an email.

Santella said he eventually scheduled his father’s second dose appointment at the Norwalk Senior Center.

But now he’s trying to schedule an appointment for his mother, and he’s worried he might encounter the same problems getting a second appointment.

Several other Connecticut hospitals and health facilities said they “encourage” people to get both shots at the same location, but it isn’t mandatory. They also maintain that no one should get turned away for a second dose at a location just because they didn’t receive their first dose there.

“We are not ‘requiring’ it, but we are encouraging individuals to get their first and second dose at the same clinic for tracking and supply purposes,” said Amy Forni, a spokeswoman at Nuvance Health — which includes Danbury, New Milford, Norwalk and Sharon hospitals. “However, we are not turning anyone away if they scheduled an appointment for a second dose at one of our clinics, but got their first dose elsewhere.”

State Department of Public Health spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said there’s a reason that providers prefer people to get both shots at the same location.

“Currently, the second dose inventory is sent to the provider location that administered the first dose, so it makes things logistically simpler for people to get their second dose where they got their first dose,” Fitzgerald said.

Another benefit of getting both shots at the same location is that providers can be sure that patients are receiving both doses of the same vaccine, said Dr. Zane Saul, chief of infectious disease at Bridgeport Hospital.

He said patients whose first dose was of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine should not receive the Moderna vaccine as a second dose, and vice versa.

“The whole idea is you want to get the same vaccine, optimally at the same place,” Saul said. “But we understand that scheduling has been a nightmare and there are a lot of variables. People run out of vaccine, and I know the weather has been a factor (in scheduling).”

But if people do get their second shot at a different location than their first, Saul said they need to bring their vaccine card to ensure they are getting the correct dose.

In many cases, people want to get both shots at the same location whenever possible, said Andrea Boissevain, director of health at the Stratford Health Department. “It’s often close to home, they are familiar with the set up, ecettera.” she said.

Whenever possible, Boissevain said, Stratford’s staff tries to schedule people for their second appointment before they leave the clinic when they receive the first dose. Yet, she pointed out that people don’t have to get both doses at the clinic.

“We don’t require it — we just require that they get the same vaccine,” she said.