Surplus Vaccine Doses

Updated 04/20/2021

Click Here for Information on Vaccine Appointments

 

Benton County works to ensure that there are no doses leftover at the end of each vaccine clinic. However, sometimes community members do not show up for their appointment or there are otherwise surplus doses that will be wasted if we don’t get “shots in arms.” When this happens, we employ multiple strategies to schedule eligible individuals.

On This Page:

 

Reser Clinics Process

 

For first dose vaccination clinics the following process for same-day appointments for eligible individuals is being used:

  • Standby Line:
    • Beginning 30 minutes before the clinic closes, individuals who are eligible to receive the vaccine may wait in a standby line for a same-day appointment.
    • The clinic will track the number of people who have not arrived for their scheduled appointment and the standby line will be used to schedule same-day appointments.
    • It is likely that not everyone in the standby line will be able to receive a same-day appointment each day. 
  • Dr. B:
    • ​If there are still surplus doses after offering vaccines to all community members in the standby line, the County will utilize a third party tool called Dr. B to notify eligible community members about the availability of surplus doses.
    • See the Dr. B notification process below.

 

 

Rural Clinics Process

 

For rural clinics, the County is using a third party tool called Dr. B to notify eligible community members about surplus doses at a clinic that is currently happening. See the Dr. B notification process below.

 

 

Dr. B Extra Dose Notification Process

  1. Community member signs up for surplus dose notification on Dr. B website.
  2. Benton County hosts a mass vaccination clinic.
  3. Near the end of the clinic the County is notified if there will be surplus doses.
    • Benton County will notify community members signed up through Dr. B. that there are surplus doses available.
    • These notifications will come as a text message to the phone number you provided when registering for Dr. B.
  4. Community members will have up to 15 minutes to respond and claim the extra dose.
  5. Community members will receive a confirmation text message that their dose has been claimed, and instructions to head  to the vaccination clinic.

Notes on Dr. B:

  • For community members to use this tool, they must have a phone that can receive text messages.

  • Please note that only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for individuals 16 years of age or older. Please only claim a surplus dose of a vaccine that is approved for your age. If you are under 18 and claim a vaccine other than Pfizer, there may not be another type of vaccine for you when you arrive at the clinic.

  • If you do not claim a dose offered to you, you will be removed from the notification list. If you want to stay on the list, follow the instructions in your texts from Dr. B.

 

Click Here for Information on Vaccine Appointments