Walgreens Fixing Scheduling System for Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine

Walgreens announced it was working on “system enhancements” to its vaccine scheduling system after it was reportedly scheduling the wrong dates for many of those trying to get the second dose of the covid-19 Pfizer vaccine. The Walgreens system has been automatically scheduling the second dose of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for 28 days following the first dose in multiple states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended an interval of 21 days for Pfizer-BioNTech and for the Moderna vaccine, 28 days. (See here) For consumers who already scheduled their follow up dose of the covid-19 Pfizer vaccine through the Walgreens system and are wondering if they can adjust their appointment to what is recommended by the CDC, the company says they are looking into it.  

Full Walgreens statement

We have worked closely with the CDC, federal, state and local government officials on COVID-19 vaccine distribution from the outset, and this includes recommended scheduling intervals for all vaccines. In many states, our stores carry COVID-19 vaccines from multiple manufacturers simultaneously, as determined by federal and state allocation. The CDC states that second doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be administered up to 42 days after the first dose, but no earlier than the recommended interval of 21 and 28 days respectively.  We have been automatically scheduling patients’ second doses to occur a minimum of 28 days following their first dose to ensure that no dose is administered earlier than the authorized intervals and patients are able to complete the series vaccination. We’re continuing to work on system enhancements to our scheduler, and this week plan to have new functionality in place allowing people to schedule Pfizer second dose appointments within a three-week timeframe. JIM COHN, Walgreens Corporate Spokesperson