The rollout of this fall’s Covid vaccine has been frustrating. When CDC authorized the Covid shots for everyone 6 months and older on Sept. 12, the expectation was they’d be available within days. That hasn’t proven to be the case. Instead, appointments seem readily available, only to be cancelled at the last minute; surprise bills for vaccines touted as free abound; and the littlest children seem left out altogether.
Avoiding a tripledemic this winter hinges on public health officials striking the right message to consumers, one that emphasizes both the new Covid booster and a flu shot — and, for those eligible, one of the new RSV vaccines. But convincing people to roll up their sleeves won’t help without a shot ready to sink into their arms. So what has gone wrong? A confluence of factors, some clearly avoidable. For one, pharmacies seem to have flubbed scheduling, allowing people to sign up when either shots or pharmacists weren’t available.
A few hitches were perhaps to be expected this year — it’s the first time insurers, rather than the government, are paying for the shot. But not every site accepts every form of insurance, and some insurers have yet to offer the needed billing codes for the vaccine.
It’s hard not to wonder if it all could (and should) have gone better.