HUNTLEY – Many Sun City residents were able to get their initial COVID-19 vaccine at clinics managed by Sun City, beginning February 4. The clinics operated in cooperation with Walgreens and Jewel-Osco pharmacies who provided and administered the vaccines.
Residents have praised how well organized the Sun City clinics were and how easy it was for them to have their next appointment scheduled for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, this does appear to bring up some concern for those who, for one reason or another, might not be able to make the appointment for their second dose at the next upcoming clinics scheduled to take place in March.
In an email obtained that was sent to a Sun City resident from a FirstService Residential (FSR) customer service representative, the resident appears to be asking about rescheduling their vaccine appointment but is told that they are unable to.
âUnfortunately, the answer is as follows: there is no rescheduling of appointments, this is NOT SCCAH policy but is Walgreens/Jewel and CDC guidelines for vaccination plan,â the email from FSR read.
The Sun Day reached out to both Jewel-Osco and Walgreens pharmacies to obtain an answer for residents who may also run into the same problem of potentially missing their second dose appointment.
Jewel-Osco director of public affairs and government relations Mary Trucco said in an email statement, that individuals who do miss their second dose appointment can, and need to reschedule that appointment at the clinics.
âWe kindly ask that customers avoid calling their store as our teams are focused on serving patients,â Trucco added.
Walgreens media relations representative Phil Caruso, went further into detail on the matter, emphasizing that Walgreens has not started providing second dose vaccines for Sun City residents at the moment.
âThat is not scheduled to begin until early March. Not next week but the following week and weâll be going back and doing kind of the same three-day clinic set upâŚSo, Walgreens will be providing the same amount of vaccine for second doses we did the first dose clinic that we held previously, but that is not scheduled to begin until [early] March,â Caruso told the Sun Day.
âSo, there has been no residents with Walgreens that have missed their second dose appointment yet.â
When asked what residents can do if they miss their scheduled day appointment with Walgreens, Caruso responded, âSo, they have three days to get their appointments through the clinic. Letâs say weâre coming in on a Tuesday and that particular individual, I donât know, maybe they have a doctorâs appointment or arenât able to make it on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday are completely available. Weâre very flexible in that regard.â
âSo, the clinic will be held those three days and then for some reason an individual wasnât able to get a vaccine during those three days windows that they previously received [a vaccine] from Walgreens, theyâll have an option to figure out something with the schedule, but I want to be very clear here, nobody has missed a vaccine via Walgreens yet. We havenât begun that yet.â
There does appear to be a level of flexibility for residents who may come across an emergency and not be able to attend their scheduled appointment on the day of. The second doses that are allotted to both pharmacies will always be the same amount as the number of first doses allotted, so residents need not worry about losing their dose if they miss their original appointment.
Though residents who entirely miss the clinics may need to try and schedule an appointment with either pharmacy online on their websites as a last option. But donât panic if the second dose isnât quite scheduled for the exact time span recommended. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that it is fine for the second dose of either Moderna or Pfizer to be administered up to 42 days after the first dose.
