The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has been riddled with tales of people “jumping the line,” getting vaccinated before they are eligible under state or federal priorities.

But what happens when there’s no line to jump? It’s a problem around the country – and in Idaho, which has a history of low flu vaccination rates and vaccine hesitancy.

Older Idahoans gobbled up appointments wherever they could find them starting on Feb. 1. But in the past few weeks, the frenzied demand has quieted. And a one-dose option from Johnson & Johnson (also known as the Janssen vaccine) hit the market.

Some pharmacies in Idaho are swimming in doses of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines – with upside-down demand especially pronounced at some of the chains participating in a federal retail pharmacy program. The federal program amped up shipments to Idaho Walmart, Walgreens, Albertsons and select other pharmacies.

The effect of those unfilled appointments is on display in Idaho’s vaccine transparency data.

Walmart has administered 29% of its doses, according to the data. Albertsons has administered 59% and Walgreens 70%. Walmart alone has yet to administer 10,000 of its more than 14,000 doses.

Open appointments, as not yet-eligible Idahoans clamor for doses

Walmart and Walgreens locations around the state now have unfilled appointments every day, leaving the unused doses in storage. Anecdotal accounts shared by Idahoans on social media show that some pharmacies are giving leftover doses to any shoulder readily available and building “no-waste wait lists.” (Once a vaccine vial is removed from cold storage and opened, every dose in the vial must be used within a certain number of hours.)

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare last week unveiled a new Idaho COVID-19 vaccine preregistration website. Health care providers can use it to pull names of eligible Idahoans whenever they have appointments open, said Niki Forbing-Orr, a spokesperson for the department.

“We have been hearing from some providers that when they called registrants to schedule an appointment, there was no response, so we’re urging people to answer their phones and return voicemails if they have preregistered,” Forbing-Orr said.

More than 36,000 people who live or work in Idaho had preregistered through the website as of Monday afternoon, she said. Almost 1,500 of them had been “claimed” by health care providers to attempt to schedule an appointment.

“Many of the individuals who have registered are not in an eligible group yet,” she said.

Coronavirus vaccine offered to thousands more front-line workers

Idaho public health officials noticed the sharp drop in demand a couple of weeks ago and decided to speed up eligibility for vaccines.

Central District Health and at least one other public health district in Idaho opened vaccines, starting Saturday, to a group that includes front-line essential workers. That included an estimated 43,000 people in Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties, according to CDH.

But the following week, vaccine appointments still remain unfilled.

State health officials say that eligibility will open statewide by March 15.

“The fact that Walmart, Albertsons, Saint Al’s, St. Luke’s and Primary Health Medical Group are not completely filled through this entire week tells me all of us need to do a better job of communicating to the folks who are eligible,” said Dr. David Peterman, who leads Primary Health.

He says, for example, grocery store workers who became eligible on Saturday need to know they can sign up for the vaccine, that the vaccine is safe and effective, and that it’s the best way to protect their loved ones and keep Idaho’s businesses open.

Primary Health has administered more than 41,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines “and we have only wasted two to four shots out of 41,000,” Peterman said.

Primary Health’s clinics have many years of experience running vaccination appointments and have managed to build their own wait lists to ensure that doses go to those eligible. If they can’t find an eligible person who can jump in the car at a moment’s notice and drive over, they have lists of those most at risk of hospitalization or death.

“We’re not breaking any rules,” he said. “We’re not putting anyone ahead of the line. We’re making sure we get shots in everyone’s arm.”

Public health officials hope Idahoans who are already eligible for COVID-19 vaccines will continue to sign up. They believe widespread vaccination is the only way out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The vaccines have shown a high rate of efficacy in keeping people out of the hospital and preventing death. The state’s Coronavirus Vaccine Advisory Committee is working through detailed breakdowns of each type of eligibility category.

Idaho currently receives enough vaccine for about 40,000 to 50,000 people to start the immunization process each week.

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 vaccination data, more than 300,000 people in Idaho had received at least one dose as of this week.