PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There is a shortage of second doses of the Moderna vaccine in Pennsylvania, meaning upwards of 100,000 people across the state could have to reschedule their vaccine appointments this week.
Pennsylvania acting Health Secretary Alison Beam says they're about 100,000 doses shy of what they need.
"We discovered some providers inadvertently used the Moderna vaccine shipped to them intended as second doses as first doses," she said.
Beam said the problem dates back to early January but came to a head this week when they requested 200,000 second doses of the Moderna vaccine. The state's entire allotment was around 200,000.
She said they’ll try to fill the hole by shifting some intended first doses to second doses. They expect up to 60,000 Moderna second doses will have to be rescheduled this week, along with up to 55,000 first doses.
There is a window of time within which the second shot can be safely given. Based on clinical trials, the second shot of the Moderna vaccine is still effective up to six weeks after the first dose.
Thus far, second doses have been scheduled at four weeks.
The Pfizer vaccine is not affected.
Beam declined to say exactly what caused the mix-up.
Despite the Department of Health repeatedly guaranteeing the availability of second doses, some providers held back half of their initial allotment to be sure it would be available. On Friday, the department warned providers if they didn’t administer 80% of their allotment within seven days, they could see their number of doses reduced or even be taken off the list.
Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh said she’s “surprised, furious and disappointed.” The county is rescheduling its clinics and working around the clock to figure out how to administer the 5,279 second doses that it has scheduled for next week.
“We have not reserved or wasted any doses and we did that under the promise that those second doses would be there for us,” she said.
CORRECTION: Pennsylvania acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said the state is short about 100,000 doses.