Overall, the findings “suggest that continuing to rapidly vaccinate U.S. adults against COVID-19 will likely have a marked impact on COVID-19 hospitalizations,” the CDC team said.
Dr. Eric Cioe-Peña, director of Global Health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y., agreed. He said the study “again confirms the efficacy of these vaccines. It takes a deadly infection and makes it much less so, and that makes it a game-changer.”
But getting that second dose of vaccine is crucial. Public health officials have worried from the start that it would be hard to get everyone to come back for their second shot, and now some state officials are scrambling to keep the tally of partially vaccinated people from swelling.
According to the Times, in Arkansas and Illinois, health officials have directed teams to call, text or send letters to people to remind them to get their second shots. In Pennsylvania, officials are trying to ensure that college students can get their second shots after they leave campus for the summer. South Carolina has allocated several thousand doses specifically for people who are overdue for their second shot.
Why the missed second shots?
Some said they feared the side effects, which can include flu-like symptoms, while others said they felt they were sufficiently protected with a single shot. But a surprising hurdle has also surfaced: A number of vaccine providers have canceled second-dose appointments because they ran out of supply or didn’t have the right brand in stock, the Times reported. Walgreens, one of the biggest vaccine providers in the United States, sent some people who got a first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to get their second doses at pharmacies that only had the other vaccine on hand, the newspaper said. Several Walgreens customers said they scrambled to get the correct second dose, but others likely gave up, the newspaper added.
The new study was published April 28 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
More information
Find out more about COVID-19 vaccines at the CDC.