FLOWERS AND SUNSHINE

Sutter Health tries to overcome a shortage of vaccine doses

Sutter Health is beginning to reschedule canceled coronavirus vaccination appointments after receiving confirmation that it will get thousands of shots next week.

The health care giant is reaching out to people whose appointments had been dropped to reschedule.

Days ago, Sutter began canceling appointments and said it might have to scrap up to 95,000 appointments — most of them second doses — because of a shortage of vaccine. Across the Bay Area and beyond, people reported that appointments they’d booked suddenly vanished online. Some went scrambling for shots elsewhere.

On Thursday, the health care provider said it expects about 30,000 doses to arrive around Wednesday and a similar allotment the following week.

If supply continues on that track, Sutter says it anticipates getting everyone awaiting a second dose a shot within six weeks of his first dose, the time frame recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most people who will need to be rescheduled already should have been notified, Sutter said, so if residents still see their scheduled appointment online, they should be able to keep it. Though Sutter operates across the Bay Area, and in the Central Valley and Sacramento area, disruption to the appointment schedule was somewhat minimized in some locations — such as Santa Clara, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties — in part because local officials provided vaccine supply.

Patients who are not sure whether their appointment has been canceled should call Sutter at 844-987-6115 to check.

The health care provider still is not scheduling appointments for first doses, instead prioritizing getting shots to people awaiting a second dose.

JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Zelda Busler, 2, smells a mustard plant while picking flowers with her mother, Rebecca Busler, of Moraga, while enjoying a sunny afternoon at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek on Thursday.