Demand for vaccinations in Maui continues to exceed supply, forcing the temporary suspension of new appointments for the first doses at Maui Hospital.
Maui Health, which runs the vaccination clinic at Maui Memorial Medical Center, has also postponed appointments for people who were looking for a first dose and who had already gotten an appointment between January 17 and February 7, 2021. .
“Unfortunately, last night the state informed us that we will not receive the delivery scheduled for this weekend and next week. That is why we have made the difficult decision to postpone all the first dose appointments scheduled between Sunday 17 January and Sunday 7 February. “
Tracy Dallarda, communications director for Maui Health / Maui Memorial Medical Center
“This is to make sure we have enough vaccine to provide the second dose to those who will require it over the next few weeks,” said Tracy Dallarda, communications director at Maui Health / Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Affected people affected by this first postponement of the dose have been notified via the email with which they registered for the appointment. Since then, they have been included in a list of priorities to receive the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine as soon as Maui Health is able to secure and maintain the sufficient supply of vaccines from the state.
“As soon as we receive confirmation that there are enough vaccines on the way to Maui Health, we will send these people a link to a private booking portal (NOT the CDC’s VAMS site) to reschedule an appointment,” Dallarda said.
Maui Health has also set new clinic hours for those already scheduled to receive their second dose. These people should have received an email with more specific instructions.
Changes include:
- The Maui Health Clinic at Maui Memorial Medical Center will be closed on Sunday, Monday, January 17 and Monday, January 25.
- Starting Monday, January 18, the Maui Health Clinic vaccine will work only for PFizer SECOND DOSAGE vaccines already scheduled.
- The new clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday ONLY.
Besides, Maui Health is not accepting any new appointment requests at this time.
If a Maui resident has already submitted an appointment request form and is still having problems, they are asked to send an email. [email protected] with
their concerns.
“While we don’t schedule new appointments, we can help you set up your account when new appointments are available.” said Dallarda. “It simply came to our notice then. Keep in mind that we tirelessly advocate for Maui to ensure that we receive a good portion of the vaccines so that any member of the Maui community who wants to be vaccinated can be vaccinated. ”
Maui Memorial Medical Center Hospital Vaccination Clinic includes a special care service system that allows kupuna to schedule the time volunteers can help with the online registration process. There is also a dedicated phone number and email address to answer questions and help them navigate the dating process.
The Maui Health Community Vaccination Clinic began on Friday, January 8, and has since vaccinated more than 3,000 community members and more than 1,000 additional employees and providers.
The hospital has received 1,500 daily applications from people who want to get a vaccine; for a total of 11,000 people (as of Thursday, Jan. 14) who had entered the system and were waiting for appointments.
The hospital is the only place in Maui that has extended vaccines to those in priority group 1B under the CDC’s prioritization timeline.
The other Maui clinic is an automatic access site, operated by the state office of the Department of Health of the Maui Health District at the University of Hawaii and Maui College The location of the distribution point or POD at the college is considers a “closed POD” that is not open to the general public or to many of the broader 1B groups. Work is still underway to meet vaccination requests in the highest priority grouping 1A, as well as in first aid.
The UHMC site had difficulties this past week, when an unexpected crowd showed up on both Monday and Wednesday, including those outside the site’s priority grouping. Some were sidelined and asked to wait for further instructions.
Those who get vaccinated should keep in mind that the hospital vaccination clinic currently only offers the Pfizer vaccine; while the emerging UHMC clinic currently administers the Modern vaccine.
“Your first dose, if it is with Moderna, your second dose must be from the same manufacturer, Moderna. If you come here (to the hospital) and your first dose is Pfizer, your second dose should also be Pfizer, ”said Chrissy Miller and Maui Health’s Health Employee Nursing Manager.
Lieutenant Governor Josh Green has estimated that demand for the vaccine is “about 3 to 1, or maybe even 5 to 1,” at present. “And that will steer us in a better direction quickly as we get the vaccine rise, which has been promised to us in the third week of January, where we are heading right now.”
“I think your turning point will be around, if you had to guess, March 1st suddenly seems to have reached equilibrium where you’re wondering about the right number of people based on the right number “It’s not that far,” Lieutenant Governor Green said during a visit to Maui on Thursday.
Updates will be provided as they become available.