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What To Do If An LA County Vaccination Site Turns You Away On The Day Of Your Second Dose
A dose of the Pfizer BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at UCI Health Center in Orange. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
We’re answering your questions about getting that crucial second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
If you got your first shot at a vaccine site run by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, you should get an email before your second dose is due with a link to schedule your second dose appointment.
But a lot of you asked us what to do if you don’t get that email.
We brought those questions to L.A. Public Health, which told us:
“If you do not receive an email, you can go back to the site you received your first dose, on the day of your 2nd dose appointment — 21 days after their first dose if you received a Pfizer vaccine, and 28 days after your first dose if you received Moderna.
You must provide proof of first dose vaccination or you will be turned away.
Please do not visit the site earlier than the 21st or 28th day.”
L.A. Public Health director Barbara Ferrer addressed that at a Feb. 10 briefing:
“I would encourage everybody who shows up to one of the county sites for a second dose appointment – if you've got your white slip and your [photo] identification, or you've got verification that came to you via your cell phone – please by all means ask to speak with a manager. We are honoring those forms of verification.”
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"There are hundreds and hundreds of people — volunteers, different crews — on different days at all of our sites," Ferrer said, "so I apologize if anybody felt like you weren't able to easily get seen when you in fact have the verifications."
Again: this advice is specific to sites run by LA Public Health –
- Pomona Fairplex
- Magic Mountain
- The Forum
- LA County Office of Education
- Cal State Northridge
- Balboa Sports Complex
- El Sereno Recreation Center.
If you got vaccinated somewhere like Dodger Stadium (which is run by the City of LA), or a pharmacy, they have different second dose policies.
We have more details about how to get your vaccine second dose in our appropriately named guide – How To Get The Second Dose Of Vaccine -- And Everything You Need To Know About It.
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READ OUR GUIDES TO GETTING THE COVID-19 VACCINE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- How To Get The Second Dose Of Vaccine -- And Everything You Need To Know About It
- Answers To Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions -- Safety, Eligibility, Access, And Much More
CHECK OUT OUR ONGOING COVERAGE OF COVID-19 VACCINES:
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
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