“So after the first shot is where the fun really begins.”
We have relatives across the country, age wise should have been basically automatic for the 1st vaccine.
Some are still trying.
Some after getting their first shot, then have no ideal when they will get their second shot.
One 75 year old SIL got her first one yesterday. When she was waiting for her 15 minutes to be over, she asked the RN who gave her the shot to sign her up for her #2 shot.
Our SIL was told that they could not do that, and that she would be called before 42 days for her second shot.
Which meant that the shot givers have no idea when the second shots would arrive.
So did that state over promise with the first shots in hopes of getting the second shots before the time limit passed?
The first shot gives 85% immunity. A second shot is really an option.
The second shot is the same stuff as in the first. There is no special supply of 2nd shots other than what may have been held back by whichever agencies are responsible for distributing doses. This is just a supply management problem. There is no reason why they can’t sign people up for the 2nd dose on a tentative basis; which can be re-confirmed in a few weeks when more info about availability can be determined. Some clinics are offering first come/first serve at the end of the day, no guarantees, so that none of the half-full vials dispensed each day have to be discarded.
Also part of the problem likely has to do with the prioritizing of various social segments e.g. front line workers, elderly, co-morbid but then you have teachers unions fighting to get moved up in line etc.
Also fwiw, there is some research into whether you can mix the Moderna vaccine with the Pfizer vaccines. So it is likely that it won’t matter which vaccine they have in stock just take one, and then the next. The one-shot JNJ vaccine should also help clear some of the field and get more doses to more people more quickly.