No cause for concern if you don't receive a second dose of vaccine within 28 days
The slower than anticipated rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, delayed deliveries, receiving fewer doses than expected, and difficulty scheduling vaccination appointments, have led to frustration for many. As your trusted healthcare providers, our goal is to vaccinate everyone in the community as quickly as possible.
Decisions about our vaccination process are based on the information we receive from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). As their distribution models change, our plans and processes are adjusted to best accommodate vaccine distribution for our patients and community. Understandably, this has caused frustration for our patients.
When a facility receives a vaccine allocation, MDH requires that 90 percent of the doses must be used within 72 hours and 100 percent within seven days. This requirement does not allow any facility to hold onto the vaccine to be used specifically for second doses. If doses are not used within that time frame, they can be taken back by the state and used elsewhere. Essentially, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
As we reach the first round of second doses, we will need to inform some patients that they will not get their second dose within the prescribed time frame of 21 or 28 days. . . .