SF teachers and grocery workers, now eligible for the vaccine, may still have to wait weeks

SF teachers and grocery workers, now eligible for the vaccine, may still have to wait weeks

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Even as San Francisco moves to expand vaccine eligibility on Wednesday to 168,000 teachers, grocery workers and emergency responders who live or work in the city, some may find they won’t be able to take their first dose for another two or three weeks. .

This is because, like many departments and health providers across the state, San Francisco is prioritizing second-dose vaccines. This means that they are giving a second injection to people who had their first injections a few weeks ago and postponing consultations for the first injections until they get more vaccine. Both vaccines currently available in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, are administered in two injections, 21 or 28 days apart.

About 91,000 San Franciscans are expected to receive their second dose in the next two to three weeks, according to the public health department. San Francisco projects that in the next two weeks, the number of consultations for the first dose will decrease significantly compared to the last two weeks.

High-volume vaccination sites that receive vaccine supplies from regional health providers are likewise delaying consultations for the first dose until they receive a new influx of the vaccine. The vaccination site at City College, run by San Francisco and UCSF, is applying only second doses this week, except Thursday, UCSF spokeswoman Kristen Bole said. Next week there will also be only second doses, unless UCSF receives an additional vaccine.

Sutter Health is suspending first dose appointments at all of its nine large-scale vaccination sites in Northern California, including at SF Market in Bayview, due to a lack of vaccines. He will reopen consultations “as soon as more vaccine is made available to us,” said Sutter spokeswoman Monique Binkley Smith.

People can get better luck by scheduling their first dose at the Oakland Coliseum, which receives vaccines directly from the federal government. This is partly because it opened last week, while other sites that have been open for several weeks are now applying more second doses than the first. The San Francisco Moscone Center, which uses Kaiser vaccines, will also make first and second dose appointments as soon as it reopens on Thursday, according to a Kaiser spokesman. The Moscone website has been closed since mid-February because of the low supply of vaccine.

Although delays in appointments for the first dose can be frustrating, this cadence was expected.

“These are challenges with any two-dose regimen,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County health officer, who during the “leaner” weeks took much more second doses than the first doses and was sometimes concerned for not having enough second doses for everyone. “But it is not a surprise. The challenge comes when this is combined with the unpredictability of supply. And scarcity … It is an operational reality. “

Most providers did not reserve second doses – this strategy would have significantly reduced their ability to vaccinate as many people as possible quickly – but instead put as many doses as possible on guns. Some providers say they should use all doses every week to receive more.

“We have – I think it is the practice in most jurisdictions – treating our doses like doses and vaccinating as many new people as we can,” said Willis. “And as the time for the second dose arrives, that’s when we have to ‘steal’ the first dose, from potentially vaccinated people to ensure that we are covering the second dose.”

Catherine Ho is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho

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