People are going to need this, too.
Houston officials plan to launch a website this week that will let people schedule appointments for their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Health Director Stephen Williams on Monday said officials plan to send out that link to people who got their first shot from the city “later this week, and maybe even as soon as tomorrow.”
The new process would be welcome news to people waiting on their second doses, many of whom have grown uneasy as their windows for the booster shot approach. Currently, city health workers call vaccinees to schedule their shots in the week before the 28-day window when the second dose is recommended.
The city has cited new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that the second Moderna dose should be given as close to 28 days as possible after the first, but can be given as far out as 42 days. The Health Department has said it anticipates everyone who gets a shot from the city should be able to get their second one within 28 days. The city has asked residents to avoid calling the city unless they are less than 48 hours from their 28-day window.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city has given out more than 2,300 second shots already and has scheduled another 11,971. He said the city has received 18,600 doses for second shots. That is in addition to 41,950 doses for first shots, of which the city has administered 33,839 — about 80 percent of its supply.
The city closed its senior wait list — operated by the Harris County Area Agency on Aging — on Friday after more than 70,000 people called to enroll. Williams said it is “hard to discern” when the city will reopen that portal. It is separate from Harris County’s wait list, which launched last week, and has grown to more than 165,000 people.
I’ve seen chatter on Twitter and Facebook from people who have gotten the first shot (or helped a family member get it) and been confused about how to schedule the second one. Hopefully this will help with that, because obviously people will need to get that in a timely and orderly manner. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the volume of second shots will need to ramp up to meet the volume of first shots in short order. The first shot volume is starting to accelerate, but it will need to increase well beyond that. Help is coming, we’ve got to do the best we can until then.