A hospital system in the Detroit area has canceled nearly two thousand appointments for second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine after an “unexpected and significant” supply shortage.
Beaumont Health said on Friday they were notified of a reduction in the allocation of Pfizer vaccines from the state of Michigan, which forced them to appoint 1,884 second doses scheduled for Thursday, the health system said Monday in ‘ a statement said.
Beaumont Health CEO Carolyn Wilson said in the statement that the group was “disappointed” by the setback.
“Our teams worked with the state all weekend and all week to try to secure the second dose of vaccine we asked for,” Wilson said.
The health system, which includes eight hospitals, said it plans to reschedule the appointments to a week later if it receives enough supplies from the state. Beaumont Health said it has the capacity to administer 50,000 doses per week, but this week it was only given about 2,000.
“The state is working with Beaumont Health last week to reconcile their second-dose deficiency. It is unfortunate that they prefer to cancel the second-dose appointments while we continue to work with them on this issue,” said Lynn Sutfin, Department of Michigan, said. Spokeswoman for health and human services, told NBC News.
Yet Michigan’s largest healthcare provider said it “wants more clarity from the state on these much-needed second doses” and that it can no longer book the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the Beaumont Service Center until they receive more supplies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines can be administered up to 6 weeks after the first dose.
The health system said it had delivered more than 100,000 shots since the vaccine became available two months ago. According to the NBC News report, Michigan administered approximately one million doses, with 4.9 percent of the population fully vaccinated in the state.
“We remain committed to vaccinating patients as quickly as possible as soon as we receive our doses of vaccine,” Wilson said.