Communications and procedures for scheduling second doses can vary widely across the region due to California’s chaotic vaccination, unpredictable inventory, and a complex system of providers.
The Chronicle interviewed health officials and infectious experts in the Bay Area to answer some of the most pressing questions about second vaccine shots: how and when people receive them, and how the timing of shots affects virus protection.
How do I get my second vaccine dose in the Bay?
Qualifying people in the Bay Area received their vaccinations from various sources – usually their own health providers (such as Kaiser or Sutter Health), provincial health departments or pharmacies (such as CVS or Safeway).
In general, the distribution website or the healthcare provider where you received your first dose should allow you to make a second dose appointment during your first appointment or a way to plan accordingly. The provider can contact you by email or phone to schedule an appointment directly, or offer you a way to schedule your next appointment on your own.
If you are going through your country and are still having problems, the following steps are recommended by officials:
Alameda: According to provincial spokesman Neetu Balram, anyone who received the first dose at an Alameda County Point of Dispensing site on Jan. 11 had the opportunity to plan the next appointment on the spot. Patients receive a QR code to scan with a smartphone and take it to an online scheduler. Those who do not have access to the QR code will receive an email.
Contra Costa: According to spokesman Will Harper, the Contra Costa County continent telephone line (833-829-2626) can be listed for vaccination. The country is now upgrading its online dating system.
Marine: Residents can schedule their second appointments while receiving their first doses, provincial spokeswoman Laine Hendricks said. Anyone leaving without planning their next appointment will receive an email one week before the second dose deadline and will be given several appointment options.
Napa: In Napa County, residents are filling out some form of vaccine interest to schedule initial appointments. After receiving the first dose, patients plan their second dose through a follow-up e-mail from the country, and anyone who does not use e-mail will be given a number for the province’s bilingual call center. plan a second appointment, said Janet, spokeswoman for the county. Upton. The province reported on Thursday that residents who have already received their first doses may have to postpone getting their second doses by at least two weeks due to the limited supply, with preference given to health workers and those who are 75.
San Francisco: Everyone who received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine received a second dose of the two doses that are in their name, or have already received the second dose, said Dr. Grant Colfax, health director, said Thursday.
San Mateo: Residents should call their healthcare provider. If they are unable to schedule the second dose with their provider, they can send an email to County Health at [email protected].
Santa Clara: Residents can contact their provider by finding contact information at www.sccfreevax.org. Province of Santa Clara Health System customers can call Valley Connections at 408-970-2000.
Solano: If you need help planning your second survey, the province’s vaccination website says you should contact the place where you set up your first appointment. Your CDC vaccine card also contains information about the follow-up vaccination.
Sonoma: The clinics in the country now focus on 75-year-olds and older, and prioritize elderly people who do not have primary care physicians and / or who do not have insurance. Anyone who is eligible and who has not heard of their primary care physician can go to one of the sites at socoemergency.org/vaccine.
What is the current recommended time frame for a second vaccine?
Both available vaccines – made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – involve a two-dose regimen determined by the manufacturers, according to schedules approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The recommendation for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 21 days between the first and second dose for patients 16 years of age and older. For Moderna, the recommended interval is 28 days for people 18 years and older. No vaccine has been approved for children under that age.
George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, said the dosing schedules do not show how long you can go between two doses, but that the minimum time frame between them is indicated to ensure protection.
“When they put together the trials, they wanted to vaccinate as many people as possible … and protect them as quickly as possible,” he said.
Experts believe that there is some room for timing of the second dose. The CDC recently updated its guidelines to allow the administration of the second dose up to six weeks (42 days) after the first dose, but the CDC does not advocate a delay.
Some experts have suggested that the second dose be postponed so that as many people as possible can get their first dose. Britain has done so with the launch of the vaccine against AstraZeneca-Oxford, and an analysis released this week suggests that one dose offers strong protection even after a few months.
The United States’ leading expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told ABC this week that postponing the second dose by a week or two is not a big deal.
“But I want to worry about putting it off for three months,” he said. “You have to be careful because you are dealing with different vaccine platforms.”
How much protection does the first dose offer me against the coronavirus?
Data to date show that vaccine efficacy starts 12 days after the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approximately 52%, including participants who may have been infected before or just after vaccination. The UK’s vaccination committee calculated the effectiveness of the first dose of the vaccine by looking at days 15-21 and found that the effectiveness had risen to 89%.
According to the data in the FDA submission, the Moderna vaccine can offer up to 90% protection 14 days after the first dose.
In summary, it appears that Pfizer and Moderna are approximately 90% effective after dose 1 approximately two weeks later, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, said. But experts still do not know how long immunity lasts.
What happens if I miss the correct time frame for my second dose?
The CDC has already extended the time for receiving your second dose to six weeks. But if you miss that time frame a few weeks, experts say you should not worry too much. “I especially want to give as many people as possible one chance in this crisis, and make sure everyone can get it a second time, but not to stress if people can’t get it exactly within the interval period,” Chin-Hong said.
If Chin-Hong lasts longer than three months, it can be of concern because of how long immunity usually lasts. But even if you only get it the first time, you still have some protection for at least a few months.
What happens if I do not get the second dose at all?
Experts believe that this scenario is unlikely to take place on a mass scale. “I’m going to guess that a second dose is available to everyone,” said dr. Robert Siegel, a professor of immunology at Stanford, said. ‘The question is, will it be delayed? The answer is yes, there is a good chance now. ‘
If for some reason you are only receiving one dose, experts say you should contact your healthcare provider for more specific protocol and information, because if you miss the second dose, it may mean you have less is protected. It is important to be vigilant and adhere to public health guidelines, including wearing masks, social distances and washing your hands, as you may still be infected or others infected.
About 20% to 30% of people do not respond to the first dose of the vaccine – the second survey only ensures the chance that people will respond to the vaccine, Chin-Hong said. No matter what, experts say you should still try to get your second chance whenever you can, even if it is longer than six weeks.
If you are still unable, there is still the possibility that herd immunity will help provide some protection, Chin-Hong said. But there are variants that are more capable of evading current vaccines, and the fewer people are vaccinated, the more variants can be taken over in the epidemiological ecosystem.
The second survey may also give you more lasting immunity, meaning it will last longer, but Chin-Hong said the CDC and other agencies will express the time when more is known.
“We do not know how long protection against vaccination will last, but we can reasonably assume that protection against two doses will last much longer,” Siegel said. “This is due to the way priming works in the immune system, and due to the fact that you would start at a higher level of protection, which would take longer to decrease.”
Kellie Hwang and Annie Vainshtein are writers of San Francisco Chronicle staff. Email: [email protected], [email protected]