Arrival of 7,000 Moderna covid vaccine doses will ease Allegheny County supply problems

A shipment of 7,000 doses of the Moderna covid-19 vaccine will smooth out some of the bumps Allegheny County-run vaccine clinics expected this week, but officials said some people will still see their second-dose appointment pushed beyond four weeks.

The announcement on Monday by the Allegheny County Health Department affects only people who received their first dose of the vaccine from a county-run point of dispensing.

Of the 7,000 Moderna doses received Monday morning by the county, about 2,300 will go toward second shots, according to county spokeswoman Amie Downs. Residents who received their first doses at the Monroeville clinic between Jan. 27 and 30 and are due for their second doses this week will receive an email containing a link to register for their second dose.

The doses available through those links, Downs said, are set aside specifically as second doses. If someone is due for their second dose this week and did not receive an email, they should call 2-1-1.

County health officials had said Friday there were no plans to schedule vaccine appointments past Monday and Tuesday because of supply issues, leaving about 4,800 people eligible for a second shot that wasn’t yet in hand. Monday’s shipment will ease some of the supply problems but not all of them.

Those who received their first dose at the Monroeville clinic between Feb. 1-6 should get an email by the end of the week with information about when they might be able to get their second dose, Downs said. While those second doses might not be on the 28th day, she said, they will still be within the 42-day maximum timeframe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that the two-dose Moderna vaccines be administered 28 days apart, though that timeframe can be stretched to a maximum of 42 days.

A limited number of first-dose appointments will become available sometime Monday, Downs said. Those appointments will be for the Castle Shannon point of dispensing only. Appointments for those without internet or technology access can be made through 2-1-1 beginning 9 a.m. Tuesday.

People can sign up to receive notifications when appointments become available by signing up for Allegheny Alerts at alleghenycounty.us/alerts

Last week, state health officials revealed that some providers had inadvertently given out designated second-shot Moderna doses as first-shot doses. While there are no dire medical implications – the first and second doses are identical – the mix-up meant that providers were requesting far more second-shot doses than the state was allocated by the federal government.

Projections from Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam indicated that up to 55,000 second-dose appointments could be pushed back a week or two, though they would still fall within six weeks of the first dose.

The need to spread out the Moderna supply meant up to 60,000 first-dose appointments could also be affected in the next two to three weeks.

That was compounded by severe weather both in Pennsylvania and across the country, and no Moderna shipments went out Feb. 15-17. The weather also stifled delivery of Pfizer doses during that time.