Would you risk trying to get your second dose of covid vaccine in another state?

Now (mid-March) this is more likely to be possible that it was, say, two months ago. Because of supply.

At least here in Georgia, grocery stores and drug stores have their supplies, and no lines – my daughter walked into Publix on Wednesday and was out 16 minutes later.

But I think that the key is location. You might be successful in Atlanta, but less likely to walk in, in Virginia or Maryland. And forget California.

No. With all of the vaccine now becoming available, why go to the expense and trouble?

In my state the second shot is reserved for people, by name for the second shot ! You are given a piece of paper with scheduled time and date, just before you get the shot. You show that paper for your second shot.

Johnson and Johnson will make easy, one and done.

Also CDC has the “vaccination card” for each person, which has to be updated on the second shot (which has to be the same manufacturer).

American here. I’ve been in the UK since December and don’t go back to the US until the end of May. It looks like I won’t be able to get vaccinated in the UK. I do need to be tested prior to going to the airport.

@kritiper These are people who didn’t want to give up their annual trip to Florida in the winter, and also people who were moving here. They usually come February for instance so they took their shot in Indians on Jan 25th, then flew down to Florida like usual Feb 1st, and when they got here started asking where they can go for their second Pfizer shot. I find it shocking people just assumed they could easily get their second shot in another state, and that they risked it. It’s still happening now. I never would have risked it just to be in the palm trees an extra two weeks.

Most places here your second shot is scheduled when you get your first. There are a few places you can get your second dose and you don’t have to have had your first dose there, but those are few and far between and not open every day for second shots.

There were people who purposely traveled to Florida to get vaccinated, but that was for both shots. A vaccination vacation.

@JLeslie to be fair to the snowbirds – until the Coronavirus debacle – where the Trump government utterly and completely screwed up just about everything related to it, it would have been a perfectly reasonable expectation to get any sorts of inoculations anywhere. That’s how it always has worked.

Last year, when it became clear that their would be vaccines early in 2021, the Feds decided to leave all planning to the individual states, but barely funded it, if at all. A national program and approach would have been far superior.

The snowbirds had a reasonably founded expectation.

@elbanditoroso I just don’t see it that way. My parents and a lot of people we know didn’t even think about traveling to Florida this year because of the pandemic. They certainly would not have traveled if they had a second appointment scheduled where they live.

People are leaving their states where they have a guarantee of vaccination on time for the unknown.

Change it from Florida. You get your shot in Indiana and then expect to show up in Michigan one day and get your second shot on time. Really? Do you expect it in any state you go to? Maybe in another two months it will literally be wide open without appointments everywhere.

I’m fascinated when people think nothing will go wrong. I don’t mean just shots, I mean everything in life.

of course I would.

@Pied_Pfeffer Would you risk getting your first Pfizer in the UK and assume you can get your second on time in Tennessee so you don’t have to change your travel plans?

Maybe it’s not completely analogous since the UK isn’t even doing the second “on time” unless they changed it.

Maybe, if I was in a medically high risk group.

But I was fortunate enough to get my first Moderna shot last week (since I volunteer at a food bank), and think I can wait a month till my second vaccination is available locally

@JLoon So if you were high risk for severe illness you would be more willing to risk not getting your vaccine on time then just stay put in your state and get it as scheduled with the appointment that was given to you?

@JLeslie – I think you were asking if anyone would go out of state for a second shot to complete their vaccination.

What I’m saying is : Yes. If I was at high risk, and no vaccine was available locally.

I don’t understand. What’s the “risk” with shots from different locations?

@stanleybmanly part of the risk is not being able to get the same vaccine (a requirement) and have a state with different group scheduled, you’re in group 4 but the other state is only doing group 2, Whoops no vaccine for you . The Pfizer vaccine is suppose to be 21 days after first and Moderna is 28 days after the first, timing is important for maximum effect.

Oh and there is a wasted dose in the state they came from, because the schedule is set for your shot and nobody shows up for your appointment.

I got my second shot at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Southern California, after getting my first at a friend’s hospital, also in Southern California. I understand that both shots were administered in one state, but by different people in different institutions. I did not think I was taking any risks.

However, I think, what you mean is what some responders have alluded to in their answers. The risk is in the scheduling; since most shots are spoken for, it may be hard to schedule the second shot on time. However, given the fact that CDC allows you to stretch out the window for the second shot (for instance, see
https://www.prevention.com/health/a35550071/delay-second-dose-covid-19-vaccine/)
I do not personally think that is much of a risk.

I do think it is important to get a dose of the same vaccine that you got the first time.

@JLoon Your answer helps, because now I see I might not have formed my original question well.

There is no problem in the original state. It’s purely someone just assuming there will be no problem to get a second vaccine in another state. Or, I guess maybe ok with risking not getting their vaccine on time. The people asking in my covid Facebook group seem to care about getting the vaccine on time, but they still ventured to the new state (in this case Florida) just hoping it will work out.

If it were me I wouldn’t leave the first state unless I knew I could get my second shot in the second state. Either an appointment or confirming a location that was first come first serve that would do the second shot. Even then I’m not sure I would risk it.

What I really don’t understand is one and two months ago almost everyone was having difficulty in every state getting a shot so why feel confident about going to another state? Only recently did it start getting significantly better in most places.

@JLeslie Even if the UK said, “Yes, we will administer the first vaccination,” I doubt that I would accept. Currently, the 2nd vaccine is being administered within 12 weeks, and by that time, I’ll be back in the US. Even with UK-issued paperwork stating the first vaccine is completed, there is no guarantee the 2nd will be issued in a timely manner or without resistance in the US.

Right now, the UK’s push seems to be the head of the class when it comes to having all residents vaccinated and in a logical order. As long as the UK stays ahead of the EU, it implies that Brexit was a “good” decision. Thus, ensuring that jabbing citizens first puts me in the back seat, even if I paid for the shot.

As a side note, my partner received the notice to schedule his vaccination appts. I did it for him, all online. It was simple; plug in the post (zip) code to find the closest location, schedule the date/time for the 1st shot, and then a list of available dates/times and locations for shot #2.

@Pied_Pfeffer The Brexit angle is interesting, I hadn’t heard that before.

In Florida you can get your second shot here, but only in certain locations. I’m just shocked people don’t make sure before getting the first dose or before traveling here. Plus, I’d still be nervous it wouldn’t work out.

I think you have even a more complicated situation, because you would probably receive Astra Zeneca, which we don’t have in America.

The UK will be an interesting test case with doing the second shot in three months. I think it will probably work out ok, but I wouldn’t like to be the one they gamble with it. Although, I’d say the J&J vaccine here in America is a similar situation.

The UK doesn’t seem far ahead considering they started vaccinating before America, but I guess the process has been less stressful there.

I wouldn’t take that chance.

Here in NY, it’s very difficult to get an appointment and almost impossible to get a live voice when calling to make an appointment, so how would one explain to someone what one was looking for?

I was worried about this with my upcoming move, but fortunately have scheduled both my first and second vaccinations well before we leave. To some extent it is expected and to some extent it is a bit reckless to leave your residence with only one vaccine. But I think vacations and short term travel are quite different than living in two places during the year (or moving for a new job!).

@jca2 @Cupcake Keep in mind that the CDC now allows you unto six weeks between shots, whether you take Moderna or Pfizer.