As Denton County Public Health prepares to begin offering second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to residents who have already received the first, director Matt Richardson said logistical concerns could be on the horizon amid confusion of provider-receiver and residents who simply do not return for their second shot.
Richardson addressed the county-wide vaccination effort and other coronavirus developments at Tuesday’s meeting of Denton County commissioners. He said next week will be the first week that DCPH will be able to offer the second dose of the Modern vaccine, with a separation of about 28 days, as it will have been almost a month since its first provider clinic was held. of emergency medical services and home health workers. .
The department expects its second dose shipment to arrive this week, which Richardson specified is identical to the first doses.
“The booster vaccine is no different from the first dose: it’s the same vaccine, with the same formulation, with the same volume,” Richardson said. “It simply came to our notice then. If you have the Moderna or the Pfizer, you should get it [same producer] as reinforcement “.
Matt Richardson
But with the arrival of these second doses, Richardson said, some logistical hurdles could arise. First, he acknowledged that not everyone who received the first shot will return for their second, a problem he said providers across the county will have to deal with.
“I’m sure it won’t have 100% profitability, so we’ll fix that,” Richardson said. “Without a doubt, this will be a national and state concern.”
For now, DCPH’s plan is to give second doses to residents who also gave the first, and Richardson added that the department does not recommend switching providers for this second shot. This recommendation is due to the state allocation system, which explained that it will send vaccines specifically for use as second doses to suppliers based on initial allocations, so that everyone has enough.
State officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott himself, have already addressed that concern after some providers set aside some of their initial allocations to have enough to vaccinate recipients twice.
However, there appears to be some confusion between recipients and providers, as District 4 commissioner Dianne Edmondson said at the meeting she received calls from residents whose initial providers told them they were “alone” when this is the second dose. In response, Richardson reiterated state guidelines to suppliers, adding that it would be difficult for DCPH to regain wear and tear.
“Even if a pharmacy or doctor’s office says differently … the assignments will continue: if they give 100 first doses, they will get a reinforcement assignment of 100 more and are expected to vaccinate the second dose to the same patients.” , Said Richardson. “If we have additional doses, we may be able to open it to the public. I’m not sure how we would coordinate that.”
DCPH spokeswoman Jennifer Rainey said in an email that the department has received the 6,000 doses assigned to it for the week and will hold two driving clinics on Wednesday and Friday at Lewisville First Baptist Church. Each will have 3,000 vaccines, the same size as last Thursday’s clinic at Denton’s CH Collins Athletic Complex, and will still be available by appointment only through DCPH’s online waiting list.
Plans for future clinics, according to Rainey, are still up in the air as DCPH works through the details of offering both the first and second dose of the vaccine.