PORTLAND, Ore. — What happens to leftover vaccine doses and how can you get one? It's a popular question these days and the short answer is, it varies.
“We do have people looking for that last-minute vaccine that may be going to waste if nobody uses it,” said Pat Hubbell, pharmacist and owner of Brooklyn Pharmacy in Southeast Portland.
Hubbell said his pharmacy typically has around four extra vaccine doses at the end of the day. To find last-minute takers, they have a waiting list that’s two-weeks deep.
“We rarely have to make more than 2 calls,” he said.
Hubbell's only requirement to get on their waiting list is to be 18 or older, since that's the current age requirement for the Moderna vaccine which they have.
“I would say about 50% of the people on our waitlist don't actually meet the [Oregon Health Authority] requirements right now,” said Hubbell. “We try and do the best we can but those last-second vaccinations we got to get it into somebody's arm.”
What about the bigger pharmacies? A spokesperson for Safeway and Albertson's told KGW their pharmacies rarely have extra doses, but if they do, they'll call other customers who've already qualified for later appointments.
On Monday, the Portland Trail Blazers posted on Twitter that 12 players got a COVId-19 vaccine. The team thanked the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde for the excess vaccine doses. They noted the Tribes began offering the vaccine to the general public in February as a way to help Oregon and the nation move past the pandemic.
For many people, the broad spectrum of how extra doses are distributed raises questions about ethics.
"That concern about efficient distribution of the vaccine has to be balanced against matters of equity,” said Dr. Courtney Campbell, a medical ethicist at Oregon State University. “You don't want vaccines to go to waste, there's no question about that.”
Campbell believes pharmacies and clinics should be efficient and transparent about extra doses, and that they shouldn't just go to people with inside access to them. He also has a suggestion for large amounts of extra vaccine.
“Single out people on what I call the ethical principal of reciprocity,” suggested Campbell. “So, individuals that aren't currently eligible but have contributed to the pandemic effort— say, persons that volunteer at vaccine sites or vaccine clinics.”
At the Oregon Convention Center vaccination site, organizers told KGW they give any leftover doses to their unvaccinated 1A volunteers. But they said it isn't much since they prepare vaccine as needed based on who shows up, not an appointment list.