Letters to the Editor: One dose of a two-shot vaccine is a lot better than none

To the editor: The article on people trying to make appointments for their second COVID-19 vaccine dose quoted someone as saying, “The first shot means nothing unless you can get the second one.”

This quote is presented without any clarification, possibly leading some readers to take it as fact. While it is certainly optimal to receive a timely second dose, the first dose certainly does not mean “nothing.”

In fact, Moderna has said a single dose of its vaccine is about 80% efficacious in preventing illness. In this same article, you mention that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current second-dose guidance is that efficacy is still achieved at shots given at up to six weeks apart.

Ralph Martinez, Arcadia
The writer is a pharmacist.

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To the editor: I am a 76-year-old physician who has been trying to get vaccinated so I can help out and vaccinate others. Up until a few days ago I had an appointment at a Ralphs pharmacy for mid-February.

However, I was just notified that my appointment had been canceled because the L.A. County Department of Public Health had taken all the pharmacy’s vaccine doses to be used instead at the mass vaccination sites. What was it thinking?

Does the county really believe that seniors are better off standing in line at the Balboa Sports Complex for hours, or trying to control their bladders while waiting at Dodger Stadium, instead of going to their local pharmacy or physician?

Trying to get an appointment at a mass vaccination site is as difficult as it was to purchase toilet paper at the onset of the pandemic. I am beyond angry at the county.

Paula Bernstein, M.D., Los Angeles