The Louisiana Department of Health says that residents who missed their second COVID vaccine dose appointments this week due to weather can safely delay their second dose by days or weeks if needed.
LDH says that the CDC expects this week's severe winter weather to cause widespread delays in vaccine shipments.
First and second vaccine deliveries have been delayed to Louisiana due to winter weather.
Unfortunately, LDH says that those delays mean that vaccine appointments and events scheduled for this week will need to be adjusted based on delivery.
So what if your second dose of COVID vaccine is delayed due to vaccine shortages, weather events, or you miss it?
LDH says that if you have received the Moderna vaccine, ideally your second shot should be given 28 days after your first one. If you get the Pfizer vaccine, the second dose should be given 21 days after the first.
But the department says that, according to the CDC, patients can safely delay the second dose up to 42 days and likely longer after the first dose if need be.
The CDC guidance states that the second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible, but the shot will still be effective if there is a short delay in getting the second dose. There is no need to restart the vaccination series if the second dose must be delayed.
A few tips from the Louisiana Department of Health:
- Make sure to communicate with the doctor or vaccination site at the time of your first dose to get a second shot appointment.
- If the appointment is cancelled due to delivery delays, weather, or you miss it, call the site to be rescheduled. Make sure to let the site know you need your second dose, and what date your first dose was administered on.
- Even though it is acceptable to delay the second dose days or weeks if need be, it should still be the goal to get this second dose on time (21 days after a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine or 28 days after a first dose of the Moderna vaccine).
For more information on the coronavirus vaccine and vaccination locations in the state, visit ldh.la.gov/covidvaccine/
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