WASHINGTON — UPDATE (12:15pm, 9/21/23): In a statement posted to its website, Moderna wrote, "Immediately after receiving U.S. FDA approval, Moderna shipped millions of updated COVID-19 vaccines to our distributors across the United States. We are working to support these distributors to ensure that the significant supply of vaccines we have already provided to them continues to rapidly reach pharmacies and other points of care. Additional supply is being shipped daily as we continue to see high demand. Moderna continues to have an ample supply of updated COVID-19 vaccine available, with an additional 6 million doses available as of today."
ORIGINAL: Less than a full week has passed since the CDC authorized the updated versions of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. The drugmakers quickly shipped doses across the country and pharmacies, doctors, and health clinics accepted appointments for vaccinations.
But the rollout has featured problems and led to lots of questions.
One viewer texted us to say she had an appointment, and heard once they arrived that the pharmacy had run out of doses. The viewer checked with other locations and got the same answer, so they wanted to know if the problem was limited or widespread.
QUESTION
Are some pharmacies running out of COVID-19 vaccine doses?
SOURCES
ANSWER
While the scope of the problem is unclear, two of the nation's largest pharmacy chains say they are having some trouble keeping enough supply on-hand.
WHAT WE FOUND
This is the first year in which COVID-19 vaccines are being treated as annually-updated vaccines, designed to match the most likely variant of the virus, as is common practice with flu vaccines.
Moderna and Pfizer received emergency use authorization for their monovalent vaccines.
Since then, providers around the country have seen a steady flow of people looking for the latest round of protection ahead of an expected increase in viral activity this fall and winter.
Our viewer, however, is not alone in finding that their pharmacy did not have enough doses in stock to meet the demand.
In a written statement, a spokesperson for Walgreens said, "Walgreens continues to work closely with manufacturers and distributors to ensure all of our sites have newly updated COVID-19 vaccines. Most Walgreens stores now have supply to support existing patient appointments. Additional appointments will be made available on a rolling basis as supply come into our sites."
Additionally, a spokesperson for CVS wrote, "We’re receiving updated COVID-19 vaccines on a rolling basis and the majority of our locations are able to honor scheduled appointments. However, due to delivery delays to select stores, some appointments may be rescheduled. We’ll continue to offer additional appointments at those locations as supply is received."
When asked whether it had any difficulty getting vaccine doses to providers, a spokesperson for Pfizer said, "Pfizer has substantial supply its 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine and does not have any shortages. Following the FDA approval, which was closely followed by the CDC’s recommendation last week, Pfizer has shipped and delivered several million doses of its 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine. We’re continuing to fulfill orders and we anticipate delivering millions of additional doses each week."
At the time of publication, representatives from Moderna had not responded to questions about its ability to supply providers with doses of its new vaccine.