JANESVILLE, Wis. Mercyhealth says it will have to reschedule thousands of COVID-19 vaccination appointments after receiving no new doses of the vaccine for a second consecutive week.
The health care provider says it had to contact 605 people in Winnebago County with vaccinations for this Wednesday and 470 Rock County patients scheduled for Thursday to cancel the appointments after receiving no new first doses of the vaccine again.
Mercyhealth says those expecting their second dose will still be able to get it as planned.
“We apologize for the inconvenience. We will contact affected people as soon as we are more available. We are eager and ready to deliver vaccine when we receive the state,” said Don Janczak, director of pharmacy, Mercyhealth in “We hope that supply will increase in the near future.”
This is the second week in a row that Mercyhealth has not received any new doses. The vaccine is provided by the federal government, then awarded and shipped by the state. Vaccines charge a number of vaccines for each shipment, but may not receive the full amount – or, in the case of Mercyhealth, not at all.
Mercyhealth says they plan appointments according to the amount of doses it has received before, but that may change at short notice.
Last week, the provider told News 3 that they request about 2,000 doses from the state each week. When asked about Mercyhealth and other hospitals receiving no new doses, DHS officials warned them against assumptions about how many doses would be available.
“I know it was a challenge for a number of health systems that made assumptions about how many vaccines they were going to receive and made appointments that they should cancel,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy DHS secretary, during an information session said. “But it’s part of the function to live in a world of scarce resources.”
Mercyhealth says the vaccination sites in Walworth County in Wisconsin and Harvard, Illinois are not affected, and all appointments at the facilities will be honored.
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