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Second-shot squeeze is latest woe

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Second-shot squeeze is latest vaccine woe

Almost a month after U.S. vaccination campaigns ramped up to give Covid-19 shots to more than a million people a day, their second doses are coming due, straining state rollouts and and leaving some people without complete immunizations.

In Texas, almost 6,000 people were overdue for their second shots in early February. Washington state said last week that some mass vaccination clinics would only deliver follow-up doses. And a Michigan hospital system canceled some second-dose appointments after its supply was reduced.

"All I have on hand is enough to get me through today and tomorrow," Carolyn Wilson, chief operating officer of Beaumont Health system in Michigan, said last week in an interview.

Beaumont Health's staff receive their first vaccine dose at their service center in Southfield, Michigan.

Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. health officials warned last year that two-shot regimes would raise the degree of difficulty for immunizations, and originally held back second doses to make sure they would be available in the recommended three to four weeks after the first. As President Joe Biden accelerates purchases and distribution in an effort to get protection for almost all Americans by the end of the summer, critical weaknesses in the system are starting to show.

People who need second doses are competing for scarce supply with millions more trying to get their first. States have widened eligibility and opened immunization clinics at sports arenas and retail pharmacies. While a major increase in shots is expected soon, total weekly supply has still only increased modestly. Meanwhile, technological hiccups and logistical snafus are also thwarting some people seeking second doses.—John Tozzi 

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