But communications and procedures for scheduling those second doses can vary widely across the region, due to the chaotic vaccine rollout in California, unpredictable supplies, and a complex system of suppliers.
The Chronicle polled health officials and infectious disease experts in the Bay Area to answer some of the most pressing questions about second vaccination shots: how and when people get them and how the timing of injections affects protection against the virus.
How do I get my second dose of vaccine in the Bay Area?
Eligible people in the Bay Area have received their vaccinations from a variety of sources – usually their own health care providers (such as Kaiser or Sutter Health), regional health departments, or pharmacies (such as CVS or Safeway).
In general, the distribution location or healthcare provider where you received your first dose should either allow you to make a second dose appointment during your first appointment, or provide a way to schedule afterward. The provider may contact you by email or phone to schedule an appointment directly, or provide you with an option to schedule your next appointment yourself.
If you are passing through your country and are still having problems, here are the steps recommended by officials:
Alameda wrote: According to the Neetu Balram County spokesman, anyone who has received the first dose at an Alameda County Point of Dispensing location on or after Jan. 11 has the option to schedule the next on-site appointment. Patients receive a QR code to scan with a smartphone and go to an online planner. Anyone who does not have access to the QR code will receive an email.
Against coast: According to spokesperson Will Harper, residents can book their first and second dose appointments at the same time using the Contra Costa County vaccine appointment phone line (833-829-2626). The province is now upgrading its online appointment system.
Marin: Residents can schedule their second appointments while they receive their first doses, county spokesman Laine Hendricks said. Anyone who leaves without scheduling their next appointment will receive an email a week before the due date for the second dose and will be given several appointment options.
Napa: In Napa County, residents fill out a vaccination interest form to schedule initial appointments. After receiving the first dose, patients schedule their second dose via a follow-up email from the county, and anyone not using email will be given a county’s bilingual call center number to schedule a second appointment Janet province spokeswoman said. Upton. The province reported on Thursday that due to the limited supply, residents who have already received their first doses may have to delay getting their second dose by at least two weeks, with priority given to health workers and those over 75.
San Francisco: Anyone who has received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine is waiting for a second of the two doses with their name on it, or has already received the second dose, health director Dr. Grant Colfax said Thursday.
Matthew: Residents should call their healthcare provider. If they cannot schedule the second dose with their provider, they can email County Health at [email protected].
Santa Clara: Residents can contact their provider using the contact details at www.sccfreevax.org. County of Santa Clara Health System customers can call Valley Connections at 408-970-2000.
Solano: If you need help planning your second injection, the county vaccine website says you should contact the location that made your first appointment for assistance. Your CDC vaccine card also includes information about the follow-up vaccination.
Sonoma: The county’s clinics now cater to those 75 and older, with priority given to seniors who don’t have a primary care physician and / or have no insurance. Anyone who qualifies and hasn’t heard from their primary care physician can go to one of the sites listed at socoemergency.org/vaccine.
What is the current recommended timeframe for a second vaccine?
Both available vaccines – made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – include a two-dose regimen determined by the manufacturers, with 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 those 18 and older. Neither vaccine is approved for children under that age.
George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, said the dosing schedules are not to show how long you can sit between two doses, but to show the minimum time frame between two doses to ensure protection.
“When they put the trials together, they wanted to vaccinate as many people as possible … and protect them as soon as possible,” he said.
Ezekiel Logan (left), Raul Garnelo, Irene Villa and Elmira Lagundi await their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the grand opening of a massive COVID-19 vaccination site in San Francisco’s Moscone South.
Jessica Christian / The ChronicleExperts say there is some leeway for the timing of the second dose. The CDC recently updated its guidelines to allow administration of the second dose up to six weeks (42 days) after the first dose, but the CDC is not advocating a postponement.
Some experts have suggested delaying the second dose so that as many people as possible can get their first dose. Britain has done this with the introduction of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, and an analysis released this week suggests that one dose provides strong protection even after several months.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the best infectious disease expert in the United States, said on ABC this week that delaying the second dose by a week or two is not a big deal.
“But I’d be worried about delaying it for three months or so,” he said. “You have to be careful because you are dealing with different vaccine platforms.”
How much protection will the first dose give me against the coronavirus?
Data so far show that the efficacy of the vaccine 12 days after the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approximately 52%, including the participants who may have been infected just before or just after the vaccine. The UK vaccine committee calculated the efficacy of the first dose of the vaccine by looking at days 15-21 and found that the efficacy jumped to 89%.
According to data in the FDA filing, the Moderna vaccine can provide up to 90% protection 14 days after the first dose.
In summary, both Pfizer and Moderna appear to be about 90% effective after dose 1 about two weeks later, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. But experts still don’t know how long immunity lasts.
What happens if I miss the correct timeframe for my second dose?
The CDC has already extended the time frame for receiving your second dose to six weeks. But if you miss that time frame by a few weeks, experts say you shouldn’t worry too much. “Especially in this crisis, I am all for giving as many people as possible one chance, and making sure everyone can get the second one, but not stressing if people can’t get it exactly within the interval period,” Chin-Hong said .
Extending beyond three months, Chin-Hong said, could be cause for concern because of the duration of immunity in general. But even if you only take the first shot, you will have some degree of protection for at least several months.
What happens if I don’t get the second dose at all?
Experts say this scenario is unlikely to happen on a large scale. “I’m going to guess that a second dose will be available to everyone,” said Dr. Robert Siegel, a professor of immunology at Stanford. The question is, will it be delayed? The answer is yes, there is now a good chance. “
If you’re on just one dose for any reason, experts say you should contact your health care provider for more specific protocols and information – because missing the second dose can mean you’re less protected. It’s important to stay vigilant and adhere to public health guidelines, which include wearing masks, getting away from social media, and washing your hands, as you can still get infected or infect others.
About 20% to 30% of people don’t respond to the first dose of the vaccine – the second injection just creates 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 takes longer than six weeks.
If you’re still unable to, there’s still the possibility that herd immunity will help with some measure of protection, Chin-Hong said. But there are variants floating around that are better able to evade current vaccines, and the less people are vaccinated, the more variants can take over in the epidemiological ecosystem.
The second shot can also give you more durable immunity, meaning it would take longer, but Chin-Hong said the CDC and other agencies will specify that duration if more is known.
“We don’t know how long the protection against vaccination lasts, but we can reasonably assume that the protection against two doses will last much longer,” said Siegel. “This is because of the way priming works in the immune system, and the fact that you would start with a higher level of protection, which would take longer to decline.”
Kellie Hwang and Annie Vainshtein are staff writers for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected], [email protected]