I felt demeaned today. I had scheduled a vaccination appointment for the flu shot and for the bivalent. It was clarified, when I called by phone, that I did not qualify for the flu shot yet since I do not have immune-compromising conditions. I got confirmation that I could still come for the booster.
But, once I arrived, somebody had asked for the covid booster, and from the the person's conversation with the pharmacy staff, it turned out that there was no Pfizer vaccination. The patient accepted Moderna and it worked out well.
I had selected, online, to get the Pfizer booster. When my turn came for the covid booster, I checked with the pharmacist that the dose I would be given was Pfizer. She said yes and said the entire name of Pfizer bivalent, etc. I did say that my neighbour had gotten Moderna after previous dose of Pfizer, and then the pharmacist seemed to read off the screen: Moderna bivalent.
I checked again, if it was Pfizer as she first assured me, and she acted acted surprised that she said Moderna. She did not confirm that I was going to get a Pfizer dose, either.
Instead, the pharmacist asked me when I had the last dose, I said in July, she asked when in July, and as I turned on my cell phone to check, she said that it was on the 27th and that it had only been 82 days since. I was able to schedule the appointment based on the last vaccination day, and despite there being 82 days instead of 84, the system allowed for the vaccination.
My conclusion is that this location has surplus of Moderna, and this pharmacist tried to push Moderna. She would have given me Moderna had I not checked with her. It is not the two-days difference that prompted the pharmacist to decline issuing the bivalent booster, but they did not have Pfizer. A more dishonest possibility is that the pharmacist tried to get rid of Moderna doses.
I am disappointed. read more