BOSTON — If you haven’t been vaccinated, you can only imagine what it’s like getting your appointment and being ready to go in. Because of the Johnson & Johnson pause, thousands in Massachusetts had their day cut short. Many showed up at their appointments at a CVS or Walgreens or other Johnson & Johnson locations before they got their cancelation message.
>>>MORE: State health officials pause administration of J&J vaccine
Humberto Gonzalez told Boston 25 News that he is already scrambling for a new appointment so he can still visit his family in Florida. He knows the two-dose vaccines are going to take longer to protect him.
“Especially if I need to [get] the two instead of the one and done. Now I have to do two shots, so maybe cutting it close,” Gonzalez said.
>>>PREVIOUS: US recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports
The state said that “individuals that have appointments scheduled for a J&J vaccine that have questions about their upcoming appointment should contact the provider they booked with directly.” Some of the providers reached out directly to the people impacted to tell them that their appointment was being canceled and now they are working on a plan to try to reschedule.
“Due to this pause, we are contacting all customers who have a scheduled appointment to inform them that their appointment is being canceled,” CVS Health said. “We regret any inconvenience and will follow up with affected customers to reschedule their appointments as soon as possible.”
>>>MORE: J&J vaccine pause: What should you do if you’ve already gotten the vaccine
Other providers like regional collaboratives said, “all patients registered for this clinic will be contacted and given the opportunity to register for a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during a clinic session this weekend. No patient will lose their opportunity to receive a vaccine.”
Most of the providers told Boston 25 News that they are waiting on further guidance from the federal government to see how long this pause may be and how far out they will have to cancel.
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