Some Second Doses Of Vaccine Delayed By Recent Weather, Contrary To Mayor’s Claims

As weather-related shipping delays drained the city’s vaccine supply, the mayor and city health officials repeatedly assured the public that the setback would not significantly impact existing vaccine appointments. Hence the surprise felt by some New Yorkers when their hard-won vaccine appointments were, in fact, postponed over the past week. The city is playing catch-up with appointments for both first and second doses of the vaccine, despite the fact that state and federal policies require the city to keep second doses of the vaccine on reserve.

“It was my understanding that the second-dose vials, they just had on hand,” said Martha Lineberger, an attorney who was supposed to receive her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at NYC Health+Hospitals/Queens last Wednesday.

Lineberger received a voicemail from the hospital that morning saying that her appointment had been canceled because a shipment of the vaccine had not arrived. “You can come as a walk-in on Friday or Sunday between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” said the voicemail, which was shared with Gothamist/WNYC.

Lineberger was skeptical that she would get a second dose simply by showing up and instead spent the day making phone calls to book another appointment, which she eventually scheduled for Monday, February 22nd.

“I'm a public defender, so calling people on the phone 500 times to get something is my actual day job,” Lineberger said. “I’m just worried about other people.”

It’s a good thing that Lineberger didn’t show up over the weekend. Delayed shipments of first and second vaccine doses from Pfizer didn’t arrive until Monday morning, according to a recording from Queens Hospital Center at a phone number some patients were given to get updates on the situation.

Maria Haig and her mother were among those who showed up Monday without an appointment. Haig’s mother had received an email canceling her appointment for her second vaccine shot last Thursday, and she hadn’t had any success trying to reschedule over the phone. Luckily, Haig said the process was smooth once they arrived.

Queens Hospital Center wasn’t the only site in the public hospital system where second-dose appointments were delayed.

An hour before she was supposed to receive her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at Lincoln hospital in the Bronx on February 17th, this reporter’s mother received a similar call about a postponement. When she checked her online patient account, known as MyChart, she found there was no replacement booking. By calling the city’s vaccine hotline, she was able to schedule a new appointment at Bellevue on February 28th.

In response to questions from Gothamist/WNYC about the cancellations, a spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals said, “Last week the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain was completely disrupted by the storms in the Mid- and Southwest. NYC will be resupplied this week, and we are working with any patient who was affected to reschedule their appointment. Anyone who had a first or second dose appointment will receive a new one.”

The spokesperson did not answer questions about how many appointments have been postponed, but said that several NYC Health + Hospitals sites have been affected.

Yet, asked Monday whether the supply shortage had altered existing vaccine appointments, Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated that this has not been a major issue and did not mention any delays of second doses.

“We don’t schedule appointments if we don’t have vaccine to back them up,” de Blasio said. “Generally, it has been just not making [new] appointments available or some rescheduling.”

Dr. David Chokshi, the city health commissioner, also said it was not an issue.

“With respect to Health Department sites, we had second dose appointments that were already scheduled over the last week and all of those were honored,” Chokshi said. “All of those New Yorkers were able to get their second dose of vaccine. We didn’t have to reschedule any first-dose appointments because, just as the mayor said, we wait until we actually have the vaccine in hand to schedule those first dose appointments.”

Vaccine recipients are supposed to get their second shot of the Pfizer vaccine within 21 days of the first shot; for the Moderna vaccine, it’s 28 days. But if there’s an extenuating circumstance, doses can be administered up to 42 days later, according to guidance from the state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mayor de Blasio advocated last week for the city to have the flexibility to dip into second-dose reserves and use them for first shots, but state and federal policies prohibit the city from doing so.

First-dose appointments have been impacted by shipping delays as well—a scenario that city health officials have said was possible but implied was not widespread.

At NYC Health + Hospitals/Cumberland in Brooklyn on Friday, a staff member said all first-dose appointments for the day had been canceled and added that about 100 people receive vaccines there each day. Some patients arrived unaware of the change. Their appointments had been rescheduled on MyChart, but they hadn’t received any other notification, they said.

During his regular press conference, Mayor de Blasio said last week’s supply began to arrive on Monday. By the afternoon, first doses on hand had risen from the weekend’s low point of fewer than 1,000 to about 23,000. Second doses are hovering around 101,000.