Beaumont forced to cancel 2nd vaccine doses
The Beaumont Health System has canceled 1,884 second-dose appointments scheduled for Thursday.
An unexpected and significant reduction in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine allocation from the state, which was discovered on Friday, forced the move.
“We are so disappointed that we had to cancel these appointments. Our teams worked around the clock and throughout the weekend with the state to try and secure the second dose vaccine we requested,” Beaumont Health Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Wilson said. “We remain committed to vaccinating patients as quickly as possible as soon as we receive our allocated doses of vaccine.”
The health system is working to automatically reschedule all canceled appointments to one week later at the same time and on the same day of the week, as long as the state supplies enough vaccine. Beaumont is also seeking more clarity from the state on these much needed second doses.
While three weeks is the typical amount of time between the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vaccine remains effective when patients receive the second dose up to six weeks after the first dose.
Most patients will receive an email if their appointment is canceled, but Beaumont will also attempt to contact other patients without an email address via phone.
In addition, the health system will not be able to open any more Pfizer first dose vaccine appointments at the Beaumont Service
Center until additional vaccine is received.
Beaumont is prepared to administer 50,000 doses a week, but this week will only be able to do 2,200, which is all the state supplied in its recent allocation. The health system has administered more than 100,000 doses since the vaccine became available two months ago. Beaumont is also working to vaccinate the more vulnerable populations it serves, including approximately 450,000 Medicaid beneficiaries.
Beaumont understands canceling second dose appointments will create concern for people with already scheduled appointments. The health system is working diligently to get more vaccine from the state to provide the required second dose in a timely manner.