Short of supply, Saint Al’s had to cancel COVID vaccine appointments for the week
Patients in the Treasure Valley this weekend opened their emails to disappointment. They learned they would not be getting their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine this week after all, due to an unexpected shortage of doses.
Saint Alphonsus Health System had to cancel appointments for patients who scheduled their first coronavirus shot for the week of Feb. 1 through Feb. 8 at the Nampa hospital and all Saint Alphonsus Medical Group outpatient clinics in Idaho. Appointments are still on for the Boise hospital and Saint Al’s facilities in Oregon.
This is the first week that Idahoans age 65 and older will be eligible to start their COVID-19 immunizations. Health care providers have been hustling to open appointments for older adults, in addition to the other groups that have already been approved for vaccines.
When Saint Alphonsus realized it would not receive enough doses to accommodate everyone, the health system decided to prioritize the doses it had for people who are due for a booster shot. The booster dose must be administered within a certain time frame to be most effective against COVID-19.
“Due to the limited supply of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines nationally, which affects the state allocations, we are not able to meet the increased demand from the newly eligible patients in Idaho,” Saint Alphonsus spokesperson Mark Snider said in a written statement Saturday. “The decision to cancel clinics this week in Nampa and SAMG clinics was due to the lack of allocated Moderna vaccine.”
Snider said the health system is focused on communicating with patients and hasn’t yet been able to determine why it didn’t receive the doses it expected.
He said Saint Al’s will continue to make sure that patients get their second dose at the right time.
“We are hopeful that, based on President Biden’s commitment to increase production and transparency between the federal government and states on vaccine allocation, we will be able to address the needs of the community,” Snider said. “Patients whose appointments have been canceled will receive notification to book a new appointment when slots are opened based on future allocation.”
Snider said the health system regrets having to cancel the appointments. Saint Alphonsus has vaccinated nearly 16,000 people so far, he said.
But with both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines rolling out slowly, “we expect continuing constraints in coming weeks and are unable to predict when new appointments will be available,” he said.
