DENVER — Kaiser Permanente is the first healthcare provider to announce that it will postpone COVID-19 vaccine clinics because of the possibly severe storm in this weekend's forecast.
"We’re trying to be as proactive as we can to help make sure that everyone stays safe and doesn’t have to travel unnecessarily in the weather," Dr. Amy Duckro, a Kaiser infectious disease specialist, told 9NEWS on Wednesday.
A Kaiser spokesperson said they are in the process of rescheduling 10,000 appointments that were supposed to happen this weekend to next.
Kaiser sent the following statement to 9NEWS:
Colorado is expected to receive a significant amount of snow this coming weekend, March 13-14. To ensure the safety of our patients and the communities we serve, we have decided to postpone this weekend’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics. We are contacting everyone with a scheduled COVID-19 vaccine appointment for this coming weekend by text and secure email and rescheduling them for next weekend, March 20-21, at the same time and location as their original appointment. We are committed to vaccinating as many Coloradans as possible, as quickly and safely as possible. This weekend’s postponement only applies to our vaccine clinics. At this time, all Kaiser Permanente medical offices are scheduled to be open for normal hours, but we are closely monitoring the situation and will adjust as necessary.
Laura Skladzinski did not want to wait until her mother's pharmacy canceled their pending appointment. The Boulder County resident had her mother's second shot scheduled for Thursday evening.
Skladzinski's mom is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer so she wanted to be sure she got her second dose.
"We were a little bit worried about taking the roads to get out there and what would happen if we got stuck or we missed it," Skladzinski said. "It only took me about five minutes to go on the Walgreens site, find a second vaccine appointment that was only five minutes away from home and it's in the morning."
But if you are not as lucky as Skladzinski and your second shot is canceled this weekend, health experts urge patients not to worry. While the second dose is usually scheduled about three weeks after the first shot, doctors believe you may have a little more time than that.
"It is OK to have a little bit of a delay in getting that second dose," Duckro said. "The CDC actually allows up to 42 days, so six weeks [after the first dose] for either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines for a second dose without any significant concern."
Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday he did not expect any interruptions to the supply chain like there were during the big February storm that caused impacts throughout the U.S.
Polis stressed that any vaccination delays shouldn't be more than a few days.
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