Let people know which vaccine they will be getting when they book the appointment. That can avoid people rejecting vaccines at the distribution site, which leads to wasted appointment time slots and potentially wasted vaccine doses. When only the two mRNA vaccines were available, many states did not reveal the vaccine brand when offering appointments, and the public largely perceives the two as interchangable products.
Have each vaccination site focus on one type of vaccine, either the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the Pfizer or Moderna two-dose vaccines to avoid confusion for recipients. Separating vaccine offerings can respect peopleâs legitimate preferences and avoid last-minute cancellations. Operationally speaking, focusing on a single type of vaccine also simplifies the administration process and prevents handling errors.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is suitable for small-scale and mobile vaccination sites in rural areas and underserved communities, as well as individuals. However, health officials can help avoid some backlash if they ensure people are offered the option to travel a reasonable distance to larger vaccination sites that offer the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Letting people make informed decision can avoid public mistrust.
I know a lot of people feel that way (working for a hospital even if a desk job from home got priority vac) but in my hospital it made sense because they needed those WFH people to help at the vaccine clinics so as not to pull as many out of the clinics.
Rite-Aid shows you which vaccine you are receiving when you log into their vaccine portal. Additionally, you can pick which vaccine you choose to receive on vaccine finder and it will show only your preference if itâs in stock.
I thought that the website vaccine finder was very useful to narrow down where you wish to receive a vaccine and which kind.
This morning, vaccine finder showed many more sites in my area that are receiving vaccines and the rite aid site showed exactly which one each site was administering.
I saw many rite aids were getting J&J but when I clicked to make an appointment, it didnât look like the appointments had been loaded into each individual pharmacy.
You can search up to 50 miles from your zip code on vaccine finder, to search farther find another zip code in an area you can travel to.
The Massachusetts mass vaccination sites show which vaccine is given at each. CVS and Walgreenâs do not, even when your appointment is made. However, I could tell CVS was Moderna by the date of the second dose given when the first appointment was made. Walgreenâs did not give the date of the second dose when the first appointment was made.
Hospital systems like Beth Israel Lahey and BrighamMGH are setting up vaccine sites. There is a local site for Beth Israel Lahey, in the city next to my town. However there is no info about which vaccine is being given. I wrote the newspaper, the mayor and the hospital to ask and noone could tell me. In fact I was told it may vary from day to day.
@compmom I was looking for appointments yesterday to help a friend and CVS did state the type of vaccine. I saw a couple of appointments and they were for Pfizer. I was able to see that after entering the zip code and when a location would pop up. Under the location it said the vaccine brand.
We donât have CVS in this area and it looks like our local Walgreens arenât giving vaccines right now. They were not listed as possible sites.
I live in a rural area so no big vaccine sites either. It does seem that vaccine finder is trying to list which vaccine is at which site, at least thatâs how itâs working in my area.
Was helping a friend locate vaccine in Phoenix area and to my surprise there is all kinds of open slots beginning tomorrow at Fryâs grocery (multiple locations).
I just received an email announcing the next local mass vaccine distribution event (WA state). They stated they will be giving both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine. This is the first time theyâve announced what will be available. It did not say if you had a choice once there.
There is a FB group called Vaccineangel.com. It helps folks find unused vaccines that are leftoverâŠthere was an article in the Hartford Courant about them today. For CT and N.Y. might be worth checking out.
It would not be surprising if vaccine general availability (where anyone can easily get a vaccine without chasing web sites, driving several hours away, or waiting in long queues) occurs earlier in places with higher levels of vaccine refusal, if vaccines are offered evenly based on population.
I talked to my friends that had the J&J yesterday (Sunday) at a cvs. Super easy, no waiting, no line. In and out, fast. Also today no symptoms of any kind.
My poor brother has had a difficult time finding a vaccine in Lake County, Illinois. Heâs age 71 with CLL and compromised immune system. Heâs been registered with two health systems since becoming eligible but theyâre getting nothing. He finally nabbed one of the new United Center appointments before they shut it off to people outside Cook County (apparently 40% of the slots were taken by over age 65 from outside the county). I gather Illinois has done a poor job with both supply and distribution.
Did Illinois move on to other groups before getting vaccine to everyone who wants it earlier priority groups?
The shortage is always the limitation. But it may be worse in Illinois, where the demographics suggest lower vaccine refusal than in some other states that have been mentioned where people are finding vaccine more easily.
The issue is that there is no way of knowing what proportion of unvaccinated people in a given group still want a vaccine, at some point states have to move on, and many are. Illinois did prioritize teachers of any age, which has slowed things down for the 65+ group that is also eligible. I get prioritizing teachers, but that is a political decision, not one based on science.
Some snippets from our daily independent newspaper from Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services addressing the recent change to an age-based rollout:
âWhat weâre seeing is that the data show us that as you move up in groups of 10 years it significantly increases an individualâs risk, regardless of chronic medical condition, for hospitalization and death,â Dr. Christ said. âIt made sense to move to an age-based prioritization.â
What it also does is sharply cut the wait time for those 55 and older.
The next priority that had been set to open for vaccines was Phase 1B.
âIt was going to take us quite a while before we even got to 1C,â Christ said.
And if youâre 55 or older but didnât have an underlying medical condition? The old system put you in Phase 2, a group that would not be eligible for even a first dose until sometime this spring or summer.
Now they wonât have to wait that long.
âWeâre going to start doing 55-64, all adults, whether you have a chronic medical condition or not,â Dr. Christ said. And she figures that make sense, given the number of people in that age group that have medical conditions, rather than forcing them to wait.
The new system also sets the stage for vaccines for even younger people.
Christ said the same rules would apply: When a county gets at least 55% of people age 55 and older vaccinated, then it can open the doors to those 45 and older. And so on.
Iâm not sure how they will determine when at least 55% of any category has been vaccinated, but this uncomplicated age-based change is very welcome.
In Colorado we move on to the next group before the entire current group is vaccinated to prevent lag. The governor announced that in January. At this point they think 70% of those 70+ are vaccinated, and that was 3 groups ago. When I went in for my first shot on Friday (first day of the current group) there were others getting their second vaccine so they were part of a previous group. My BIL lives in a mountain community and he got a call a week before saying they were ready for the next group a week early as they couldnât find any more from the previous groups who still needed appointments.
As they move through groups, they are also finding many have already been vaccinated. Ex., teachers were in 1b2, so if any of them are also 60 years old or have 2 medical conditions, they were already eligible so are âexcessâ for this current group. I know a lot of 50 year olds who are medical workers or admin and they were in the first group, so will be excess in the next age group.
Plus a LOT more vaccine available here now, so more people getting appointments. I think weâll fly through the remaining groups. Kaiser seems to be the only problem in the system.