Riverside County residents struggle to schedule second vaccine dose

As difficult as it has been to get the first round of COVID-19 vaccines, the second dose is proving to be just as hard for some Riverside County residents. Healthcare workers were the first group to get vaccinated, but many have reached out to News Channel 3 saying the process to get it is difficult and unclear.

"I have the date when I’m supposed to get it but no means to get it," Palm Desert resident, Barbara Rosenberg.

"All they did was send us with a card that said get your second vaccination on or around February 8- made no subsequent appointments, they said you're on your own to make an appointment," said Marcella Marino of Gustafson Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Palm Desert.

Marino and her husband own the Palm Desert physical therapy practice. Both, along with their employee, received the Moderna vaccine on January 11.

"All three of us got the shot on the same day," Marino said.

She has attempted to make a second appointment, but has had no luck.

"The website crashed, I was on for hours," said Marino.

Marino is one of the many grouped along with thousands of others trying to get an appointment, regardless if it's the first or second dose.

In addition to the many issues with securing an appointment, users are not able to see which vaccine they are scheduling for until after the appointment has been made.

"You’ve been able to see it after you’ve made your appointment but by then that gets to be a little too late. So people want to know ahead of time if they’re going to the right place so we’ll be able to do that in the future," said Riverside County Department of Public Health spokesperson, Jose Arballo.

Arballo said the county is looking to change the system so the specific vaccination is apparent before an appointment is made.

"We’re looking at setting aside certain days that will just be for second doses," said Arballo.

It was unclear when those dates would be finalized.

"We don’t normally plan our clinics so far out, remember 21 days and 28 days is a long way out. Everything depends on our vaccine supply."

"Right now we are looking at targeting specific groups. For instance, those individuals who may have received a first dose- they're starting to come due next week. For any individual who has received that first dose through a public health vaccine site, they will receive a notification inviting them to sign up for a particular time," said Dr. Geoffrey Leung with Riverside University Health System.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "you should get your second shot as close to the recommended 3-week or 1-month interval as possible. However, there is no maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine. You should not get the second dose earlier than the recommended interval."

Second doses of the Pfizer vaccine are recommended on or after 21 days of the first vaccine's administrations. Second doses for the Moderna vaccine span out to 28 days.

"Right now the CDC is recommending that people try to receive their second dose within 6 weeks of the first dose. However, if you look at the package insert or the labeling for both vaccines that are approved, there is no maximum time at which you can receive the second dose. So we do not recommend restarting the vaccine series if its been more than 6 weeks. If you look at how most vaccines work, we do believe that even if you receive a second dose after 6 weeks that it would still be effective," said Dr. Leung.