TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Earlier this week, the Florida Department of Health issued a vaccine report showing more than 44,000 people were overdue for the vaccine.
The report defined "overdue" as those who have received their first dose and have passed the recommended timeframe to receive their second dose.
The two vaccines being used in the U.S. right now require two doses to reach the necessary immunity level to defend against COVID-19.
According to the Food & Drug Administration, the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should be given 21 days after the first. For the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the interval is 28 days between the first and second dose.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health's report no longer listed the overdue data. A spokesperson said the department made the change "in alignment with CDC reporting, and to provide additional details on vaccine administration in Florida."
Now the health department will include data on total doses administered and ethnicity. Staff will also post an additional, more detailed report for each county.
The spokesperson said, "Reports previously included a number of individuals “overdue” for vaccination. This number is being removed to align with CDC reporting, which only includes information on first dose and series complete (first and second dose). Additionally, this number is being removed as it may cause confusion related to the following CDC guidance."
The CDC guidance the FL Department of Health is referring to says:
You should get your second shot as close to the recommended 3-week or 1-month interval as possible. However, there is no maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine. You should not get the second dose earlier than the recommended interval.
In other words, if you miss the three or four week recommendation, you should still get the second dose and it should be just as effective.
Dr. Thomas Unnasch with the USF College of Public Health said most booster shots for other vaccines are administered a few months later but the COVID-19 vaccine trials dictated this timeline.
"The recommendation came out because that worked really well and you don’t want to mess with success, right? If you got a great recipe, you follow the great recipe," said Unnasch who is due for his second shot a week from today.
He thinks dropping the "overdue data" on the Florida report makes sense since it could be misleading. Unnasch called the second dose a "better late than never" situation.
He said data shows that people who only got the single dose did not have the immune response of those who completed the series.
"It’s not as effective. You’re only getting a 50 percent protection compared to roughly 95 percent protection from the two doses," said Unnasch.
The state health department is working with counties and local providers to make sure individuals are being proactively scheduled to receive their second dose.
You can view the latest vaccine report from the Florida Department of Health here.