Walgreens delayed Pfizer COVID vaccine second doses 1 week longer than necessary
Walgreens tried to call its own shots when it came to second doses of the Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, making people wait an extra week beyond the recommended 21 days.
Patients are supposed to get two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine spaced three weeks apart, federal health officials have said, but Walgreens was spacing the inoculations four weeks apart for its own convenience, the New York Times first reported Monday and the Daily News confirmed.
Walgreens also is administering Moderna’s COVID vaccine, which is given in two doses spaced four weeks apart.
Using the same 28-day waiting period for both vaccines was “the easiest way to stand up the process based on our capabilities at the time,” Dr. Kevin Ban, Walgreens’s chief medical officer, told The Times.
After some people were up in arms over the delay, Walgreens said it will start scheduling Pfizer doses three weeks apart.
“We have worked closely with the CDC, federal, state and local government officials on COVID-19 vaccine distribution from the outset, and this includes recommended scheduling intervals for all vaccines,” Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman told The News.
“The CDC states that second doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be administered up to 42 days after the first dose, but no earlier than the recommended interval of 21 and 28 days respectively,” Engerman said in an email statement.
“We have been automatically scheduling patients’ second doses to occur a minimum of 28 days following their first dose to ensure that no dose is administered earlier than the authorized intervals and patients are able to complete the series vaccination,” the statement said.
“We’re continuing to work on system enhancements to our scheduler, and this week plan to have new functionality in place allowing people to schedule Pfizer second dose appointments within a three-week timeframe,” Engerman said.
