Pharmacies and health officials are demanding that Americans who received their vaccines against Covid-19: cancel the rest of the shots you have reserved.
As admission to the vaccine expands and there are more sites offering opportunities, many people are signing up for multiple appointments and not withdrawing from those they don’t need. The resulting influx of non-presentations forces vaccine providers, from pharmacies to community clinics, to find last-minute replacements so as not to miss doses.
In North Carolina, a county health director has gone door-to-door looking for assistants in the lost time slots. A Midwest retailer closed its waiting list and commissioned employees to eliminate people who took multiple appointments. On social media, it is increasingly common to see health department posts offering shots to anyone who may appear at a vaccine site.
“At the end of the day, it creates insanity,” said Raynard Washington, deputy director of health at the Mecklenburg County Department of Health in North Carolina. Up to 10% of people do not show up at county-run vaccination sites, or at hundreds of doses a week, in part because they don’t cancel multiple appointments.
Appointments remain difficult to score in many parts of the country, although global vaccine supply and the rate of inoculation are improving. Some people make multiple reservations in hopes of getting vaccinated sooner or later because they don’t receive or see confirmation emails, depending on pharmacies and community vaccination sites. Others receive shots at emerging vaccination events before scheduled appointments and do not notify providers.